The Student, The Typhoon, and The Closet
by Scarlet Rurouni
Summary: ON HIATUS What happens when I open my closet one day, only to be knocked to the floor by Vash the Stampede himself? Well... read and find out! Did I mention how shameless selfinserts are fun? :
1. Never Write On An Empty Stomach

A/N: Alright. I know, that title sounds awfully familiar to some of you. Well, that's because this is a spin-off of Thestral1's fic, "The Student, The Wizard, and The Closet". No, I am not stealing her idea, I give her full credit for coming up with the premise for this little shameless self-insert of mine. actually, I have full permission from her to write this… so sit back… and watch what happens when Vash wanders off of Gunsmoke, and into my closet…

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Trigun, or McDonalds for that matter. Hell, I don't even own tater-tots! And should the respective owners of these… er… things decide to sue me, all they'd get would be a box of old assorted crayons… and maybe an Altoid or two. (don't own Altoids either… ~_~x;;)

****

The Student, The Typhoon, and The Closet

**Chapter 1**

It had happened again. He had wandered into a perfectly normal, nice little no name town in the middle of nowhere, and now he was running for his life from irate townsfolk.

"Why does this always happen to me??" he cried as he ran into an alleyway in an attempt to escape the current mob of business owners who were chasing him, rifles and shot guns in hand. _Because you're 'Vash the Stampede' idiot,_ he mentally answered himself. Skidding to a halt at the end of the ally, he decided to try and talk this out with the townspeople rationally.

"Hey! Can't we talk about this?" he asked, wearing his best friendly grin.

His only answer was a barrage of gunfire as he expertly dodged the bullets that were once again flying all around him. "That wasn't very nice!" he chided even as he ducked into a nearby building, jumping over a box of French fries as large as a couch. Tripping over a stray McDonald's chicken nugget, Vash….

~~~*~~~

"A stray chicken nugget? WHAT THE HELL??" I immediately halted my frenzied typing upon reading what I had just written.

"Man, I must be getting hungry…" Almost as if it were separate entity, my stomach rumbled in response. "Alright, alright" I muttered to myself. "Geez, Mom and Step-dad go on vacation for a few weeks and you forget to feed yourself! Liz no baka!" Shaking my head, I wandered aimlessly into the kitchen, intent on fixing myself some sort of microwavable meal for dinner. After turning the microwave on, I quickly walked back to my room, hoping to finish at least that last paragraph before taking a break to eat.

~~~*~~~

His only answer was a barrage of gunfire as he expertly dodged the bullets that were once again flying all around him. "That wasn't very nice!" he chided, even as he ducked into a nearby building, seeking some form of temporary cover. Spotting what seemed to be a back door, he took a split second to weigh his options…

__

Through that door, or… looking around him, he could see no other way out than the way he came, and that was currently being surrounded by the mob that had been following him.

"Aw crap!" he muttered as a fresh round of gunshots began to tear through the door behind him. Running as fast as he could, he crossed the room in a manner of seconds, nearly ripping the wooden door off it's hinges as he tore it open, running through and slamming it shut behind him….

~~~*~~~

"And then he…" I muttered to myself. "Dammit! I **hate** writer's block!" With a heavy sigh, I got up and walked across my small room, deciding that for the moment, this little ficlet of mine would have to wait. Just as I was reaching for the handle, the closet doors to my left burst open and I was knocked to the ground by a very large, very red… person?

THUD!

"Oof!" I hit the ground rather hard, landing with this very heavy person on top of me, in such a way that all I could see was a face full of… red leather? _What the…_

"Look buddy, I don't know who you are, or what in the name of Kami you were doing in my closet, but would you do me a favor and GET THE HELL OFF ME??" I shouted, though I suppose it came out rather muffled, as I found it kind of hard to talk with a person on my face.

"Huh? OH! Sorry! Didn't see you there! Here, let me give you a hand…" 

"Thanks" I muttered taking the offered leather-clad hand, boosting myself off the floor. Brushing myself off, I was about to give this weirdo a stern lecture on why people don't hide in other people's closets, when I suddenly found myself looking to the eyes of… "Vash… Vash the Stampede??"

For a split second, I swear I saw fear cross his handsome features just before he said, "Crap, are you trying to kill me too?" He swiftly scanned my room, seeming to look for a possible escape route, though the only one that I could see was through me, as I was standing in front of the door.

"Ummm… no?" I said, slightly confused, "does it look like I have any weapons on me?"

He seemed to notice me for the first time, looking me up and down, as though using some sort of x-ray vision to tell if I was concealing anything that I could use against him. "You don't smell like gunpowder…" he muttered, looking just as confused as I'm sure I must have looked to him.

I smacked myself upside the head. _Liz, you're talking… to a freakin' **anime character!!!!!** He doesn't exist in this world! _For a moment I thought that maybe I was hallucinating because I hadn't eaten anything yet, and that if I closed my eyes and counted to ten, he'd be gone. 

__

…8…9…10! Cautiously, I opened one eye, expecting to see nothing more than my closet doors, but no such luck. "Maybe I should eat something…" I muttered, turning and walking out the door. 

As I sat down the kitchen with my now fully cooked TV dinner, I heard footsteps heading towards me from the direction of my room. _Great, now you're hallucination's following you!_

Vash… no… my hallucination sauntered over to the kitchen table where I was currently seated, and plopped down in the chair opposite from me, staring at me as though **he** were the one hallucinating. "Are you real?" he asked.

I nearly choked on my tater-tots. "Of course _I'm_ real! You're the hallucination!"

"What?" he started, looking even more confused than before, "Hey! If I'm the hallucination, why don't I know you're name?"

Now I was even more confused myself. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, if I'm just a figment of your imagination, wouldn't I know you're name? I mean… it would only make sense if I was somehow created by your subconscious." He smirked, "But since I don't know you're name but you seem to know mine, that's means that **you're** the hallucination!" he finished with a triumphant grin.

I groaned. _Great Liz, now you're hallucination thinks you're the waking dream. You really ARE insane! _I shook my head. _Maybe if I can convince him that he's not real, it'll get rid of him or something…_ I sighed, it was worth a shot. "Come on, I'll prove you don't exist, well, not here anyway…" I muttered as a dragged both him and myself over to my video collection. _He feels awfully real for a hallucination… NO! Don't even start that!_ Shaking my head once more, I selected a few of the "Trigun" DVD's I owned and popped them into my player. "See? You exist on television, in an anime show, which is made of ink and paper. You're not a part of the real world!" _even though it'd be lots of fun to have you around for awhile… I said stop that!!!_

He looked utterly perplexed by the scene on the screen, which happened to be one of my favorites. It was the part in the show when was running up a flight of stairs, crying in French to "maman" asking why people were always chasing him. "That's me… I remember that…" he muttered in utter disbelief. 

Well, this was going nowhere fast. "What's the last thing you remember before showing up in my closet?"

"I was being chased through a town by lots of people."

I snorted. "Vash, that happens **everywhere** you go, can you be a bit more specific?" He opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it. _Oh… I wonder if it's about Knives, and he's not sure how much to tell a stranger…_ "Vash… have you found Knives yet?" I asked carefully, unsure of what he would do.

He simply stared at me shocked, as though he didn't know whether to run, or… I sighed. removing the current DVD, I swapped it for the last one in my collection, and played the last half of the final episode. Pointing to the screen, I said, "Do you remember that?"

His eyes went wide, just before he looked down at his feet. "I remember it. There's more though…"

I smiled sympathetically. "Look, why don't we get some sleep, and maybe by tomorrow you'll be back where you belong." _Yeah, and maybe tomorrow I won't be hallucinating anymore!_

He grinned, seemingly relieved that I hadn't asked him to explain what he meant by _there's more…_ "Okay."

I sighed, at least he seemed to trust me a little, though I couldn't quite figure out why. Suddenly, my stomach grumbled again, having been deprived of dinner for the second time tonight. "Er… how about some food first?"

He immediately perked up, the mere mention of food seeming to brighten his spirits. "Got any donuts?"

I turned to look at him, and burst out laughing. "Well, if you really are real, you're definitely the Vash I know!"

He looked confused. "But I still don't know who you are…" he said, almost shyly.

I grinned. "My name's Eliza Brookson." I said, offering him a friendly handshake, "but you can call me Liz."

He smiled. "I like it."

"Come on Vash, lets get you some food…" I said taking the gunman by the hand and leading him into the kitchen.

Yup. Tomorrow was going to be interesting, if he was still here that is…. And for a moment… I almost hoped he would be…


	2. The Rain Is Such A Simple Thing

A/N: Whoopee! The next chapter! And I'd once again like to remind you all that yes, I DO have permission to be writing this fic; otherwise it'd never be posted here. Alright, I had a silly thought earlier today while waiting for the bus, and thus a new chapter was born. Rejoice good people, for it is good. Well… _I_ think it's good… ^_^x

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 2**

BzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzSLAM!

"Stupid alarm clock…." I muttered. Groggily, I opened an eye to see what time it was. _Hmmmm… eight am… I might as well get up…_ With deep yawn I pushed back the covers of my bed and stretched, cat-like, before glancing over at the large blue recliner chair just opposite my bed. 

"Huh. Must've been a dream…" I muttered as I went to grab a robe so I could fix myself some breakfast. Tossing on my favorite blue fleece robe over my pj's, I looked out the window. "Hmm, raining. Better stay home today." With another small yawn I made my way into the kitchen. "Scrambled eggs would be nice…"

Rummaging through the cabinets, I finally extracted the desired frying pan, and set to work making myself a lovely plate of eggs, when I was rudely interrupted by a small noise…

"Good morning!"

"Gah!" I uttered in surprise as I tripped over the dog dish and landed flat on my face on the linoleum floors of my kitchen. _Oh hello floor, and how are you today? Me? Oh… my day's starting out a little rough…_

"Uh… what are you doing on the floor?" Vash asked as he gently picked me up and set me back on my feet. Frowning, I waved a spatula at him.

"You were supposed to be a dream."

"I was?" he said with a confused look.

"I must be loosing my mind" I muttered as I turned back to my unfinished breakfast. With a sideways glance, I looked the infamous gunslinger up and down, still not quite sure this was actually real.

"You're really standing there aren't you?" I asked, still not turning to face him.

He looked around. "Do you want me to move or something?"

I shook my head. "Vash the Stampede, the 'Humanoid Typhoon' himself, is standing in my kitchen."

Vash merely looked more confused, "Are you sure you're alright?"

I sighed, and retrieved not one, but two plates from the cupboard, and dished out a serving of eggs for Vash as well. "Ketchup?"

He grinned and took the bottle from my hand. "Thanks!"

I sat down at the table, trying to make sense out of all this. _Alright Liz, you've got two rational and logical answers to this. 1) Vash is **really **here, eating scrambled eggs at your kitchen table, or 2) you've gone completely daffy._ I looked up, only to see Vash devouring breakfast at an inhuman pace. _That's it, you're nuts._

"Alright." I said firmly, causing Vash to pause his annihilation of the scrambled eggs. "I've decided, that I'm insane, and you're a hallucination. Therefore, you aren't really here, and the only logical thing for me to do is seek severe mental help." I state matter-of-factly.

He swallowed a mouthful of food. "But… if I'm a hallucination, then how come I can eat your food?" he said with a grin.

I looked down at my plate, and indeed, all of my food was gone. _He's got you there! _the side of me that wanted him to be real declared triumphantly. I frowned. "Well, I know of one way I can be sure that you're real…" I said with a wicked grin.

Vash gulped. I took this opportunity to lean across the table and snatch his revolver out of his pocket before he could say or do anything to stop me.

"Hey!" he cried after I was already headed out the back door with my prize. "You can't just steal people's guns you know!"

Opening the door, I carefully took a second to aim at the trunk of the grapefruit tree in my backyard, before firing off a single shot. Unfortunately, I had underestimated the power of the large colt revolver, and the gun nearly jumped free of my inexpert grasp as the shot recoiled. "Well, that felt pretty real to me…"I muttered, finally beginning to believe the impossible. "So I guess that means that… Vash?" I had turned to face him, ready to tell him that yes, I believed he was real, and no, perhaps I wasn't insane, but the look of pure awe on his face stopped me cold. "Vash? What is it?" I questioned, waving a hand in front of his face to try and bring him back to… well, just bring him back I suppose, as reality seemed to have taken a vacation.

A smile filled with nothing but pure joy and amazement spread across his face, like a small child that just received their first Christmas present. "It's raining…" he said softly, as though the very sound of his voice would shatter the fragile world he stood in.

"So?" _What's so great about… rain! Baka! _I slapped myself, how could I have forgotten? "Vash, you've never seen it rain before have you?"

He smiled, "Actually, I was beginning to think it would never rain here… it's always so dry…"

"Here?" I questioned, slightly confused.

He looked at me, equally as confused by my question as I was by his statement. "Here. This planet. The plants have been trying for years to accomplish something like this but…" 

I shook my head sadly. "Vash, you're not on Gunsmoke anymore. The plants don't exist. And it rains, regularly."

He stared at me, "Not… this isn't Gunsmoke?? Then where the hell are we??"

__

Hoo boy, Kansas is a long ways away, ain't it Dorothy? "Um… Welcome to Earth."

Shocked, could not even begin to describe the look on his face. "Earth" he said slowly, as though testing the feel of it on his tongue. "But… that's impossible…" He frowned, "In order for that to happen, I'd have to travel through some sort of time warp…"

I smirked. "It's just a jump, to the left."

He looked at me for a minute trying to figure out what I meant, and for a second I could have sworn he was actually going to jump to the left. Well, either that or faint from shock. "Do you want to sit down?" He nodded, and turned back to the kitchen table, slumping into a chair as I shut the door to the back porch.

I sighed, and decided that a nice cup of tea would be good right about now. Putting the kettle on the stove, I mused to myself about how different the real world truly was in comparison to the reality Vash knew of. _He's probably never even seen a cell phone before! _I thought with a smile. Looking towards him, I felt deep sympathy for this man. He'd been hunted nearly all his life, generally avoids people, has a psychopathic brother trying to destroy humanity, and now he was suddenly thrust into "the real world".

Walking back to the table, two cups of tea in hand, I offered one to him with a characteristic smile of mine, which was somewhere between a smirk and a playful grin. "Look at it this way, at least no one here is trying to kill you, even if you have jumped back a few hundreds years in your reality."

He looked a little bewildered for a moment, and then grinned once more. "Might be nice not to have to run away from everyone I meet" he said in a voice just above a whisper.

I laughed, my knowledge of the Trigun anime series reminding me of his tendency to act almost philosophical half the time. "You really are too serious you know."

"That sounds like something someone used to tell me."

I grinned, _of course it does, and I know who you're thinking of too._ But I decided it might be best to stay away from that area for the moment, at least until I got a second opinion on things. "Well, the way I figure, one of us is bound to be either insane, or dreaming, so we might as well make the best of it."

He laughed, "Alright, but which of us is the crazy one?"

"Got me." I said, just as a wonderful thought hit me. _Stephie, she'd know what to do! Or at least she wouldn't be too surprised to find me hallucinating… that's it. I'll go see Stephie. Now… how to get him to follow me out of the house…_ I grinned wickedly, I had the perfect idea.

"Vash… what do you say we go get some donuts?"

His eyes lit up, and he jumped up from the table with gleeful "REALLY? Can we go now? PLEASE?????"

Thank Kami for whoever thought it'd be a good idea to put Trigun on DVD.

"Let's go."


	3. I thought we were going for donuts?

A/N: YAY! It's random cameo time!!! Well, not too random. Thestral1 (Stephania Juliana in this fic) is, as I keep saying, writing the fic that I am playing off of, and subsequently we shall be appearing in cameos along with our favorite characters in each other stories. HA! See? I _told_ you I had permission to be playing off her fic! ::triumphant smirk, though it is cut short by mob of angry fans pelting her with rotted veggies:: Hey… ::pouts:: that wasn't nice…

Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, I don't own anything vaguely Harry Potter, and I definitely don't own anything worth suing me over. Unless you really want a few toothpicks….

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 3**

Once I had managed to convince Vash that it was entirely necessary to ride the bus quite a ways in order to get to the 'donut shop', we soon found ourselves outside of Stephania Juliana's front door. She happened to be a close friend of mine, and as such, she knew my quirky ways, so I felt safer consulting her for advice. _At least she won't consider throwing me in the loony bin from the get go…_ Unfortunately, trying to get a seven foot two inch tall gunman to fit under your umbrella while running for the safety of the porch steps is not an easy task…

"Bloody hell! Stupid rain! We're soaked!" I cried in frustration, practically pummeling Stephie's poor doorbell.

After a moment, the front door swung open, much to my relief, revealing a bewildered Stephie…

"Liz, hey! Wait..."she paused, seemingly to get a better look at Vash, who was standing beside me, looking quite perplexed himself. "Oro?!" I had to stifle a laugh. Ever since I had introduced her to two of my favorite animes, "Trigun" and "Rurouni Kenshin", Stephie had adopted a few of my favorite characters' quirks. However, I was in much in the joking mood at the moment, quickly tiring of standing out in the rain.

"Er... Stephie... I'll explain donut-boy if you let us in." I said quickly, using the affectionate nickname the two of us had always used for Vash. _But that was **before**_ _he walked through your closet…_ Ignoring such thoughts I glanced back at Vash, murmuring, "hmmm, might want to duck your head to get in the door..." Turing back to Stephie, I tried to wake her from her amazement.

"So yes... may we come in?"

Somewhat sheepishly, she realized her supposed lack of manners. "Of course, please." Pulling the door back farther to allow us entry, she gestured to the couch and loveseat in her living room, where she appeared to have a guest of her own…

__

Good lord… no… that can't be him…Even as I was thinking this, I swore I heard her mutter faintly, "Well, at least I am not the only one with the screwy closet then ..."

I however, was far too preoccupied with the figure on the couch to notice such comments at the time. "Thanks...?" I muttered nearly incoherently, staring at what appeared to be a rather egocentric looking man in… wizarding robes??

"Er.... Stephie..." Turing back to face her, I shot her a hopeful look, "Does this mean I'm NOT the only insane one?"

Just then Vash managed to get through the doorframe, and took the opportunity to remind me of the ruse I had used to get him here…

"I thought we were going out for donuts?"

Ignoring Vash's current comment, Stephie instead replied to my own. "It certainly seems so ..."

The 'wizard' on the loveseat took her pause as his cue to introduce himself.

"Oh, do we have company? My name is Gilderoy Lockart, five time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile awa-"

"Oh, shut it!" Stephie chided, giving Lockhart a look that I had seen her use only when she was particularly annoyed by something. Managing a slightly softer tone, she explained things to him. "Yes, we do have company, this" she said with a point in my direction, "is Eliza Brookson, otherwise known as Liz, and this" she said pointing at needle noggin', "is Vash."

I couldn't help myself, I took one look at Lockhart's swaggering expression, and promptly bursts out laughing.

"Oh... Kami... that's great. You get Mr. 'Everyone-worship-me-for-I-am-oh-so-wonderful', and I get a donut crazed gunman!" I cried, succumbing to another fit of laughter.

Ignoring my last comment, and completely oblivious to the fact that Stephie had already introduced him, Vash slapped on his best 'oh-so-innocent-yet-friendly' smile. "It's nice to meet you! I'm... er... that is…"

I stopped laughing long enough to shoot him a quizzical look, wondering what alias he would try…

"My name's Eriks!" he said with a grin.

__

The old standby, huh? "Right." I snorted. "Why don't you just use "Valetinez Alkalenela Zeehock Sushira Boherez Gombigomela Blue Stradavari Tralentrent Pierre Andre Charttenhemos E'Vonnivitchi Baldos George Doitzel Kaizer the third." One of my favorite quotes of his, but of course, how could he know that?

"Or is that too long for the great and powerful 'Vash the Stampede'?"

With a look of sheer amusement, Stephie grinned, "Don't trust me do you, Donut Boy? I mean to say I must look formidable I assume." she added with a smirk.

"Well you actually are, believe it or not." Lockhart said happily. _What is he up to…_

Quickly going from amused to annoyed, Stephie swiveled to face the towering wizard. "Oh really? I wonder why that is? Hmm, is it because I haven't dropped to my knees and worshipped the ground you walk on? Is that it? Because if it is, that's not formidable, that's just common sense."

__

Well **that** shut him up!

Pouting adorably, Vash muttered, "Why is it that everyone knows my name here?"

I felt an immediate wave of sympathy for him, being in a completely different time and possibly dimension, couldn't be all that easy. I moved to sit beside him on the couch. 

"Hey... look on the bright side! No double dollars... so no double dollar reward, right? And not everyone knows you're name... besides, who cares so long as they're not trying to kill you, right?" I added with a grin.

This seemed to raise his spirits a bit. "Can we still have donuts?"

"You really are obsessed, aren't you?" I said with an amused snort. "Yeah, but later. Stephie and I need to talk..."

"Yes, we certainly do."

"Right." I nodded, moving to get up so that we could go to another room and sort this out in private, but I suddenly found myself unable to get anywhere.

"Can't you talk out here?" Vash had grabbed my wrist as I tried to move away, and looked at me with pleading eyes. I suddenly realized that if I left him, even for a moment, he would probably feel completely alone. My heart wrenched for a moment, I knew from watching the anime that being left alone was probably one of the few things the notorious Stampede was actually afraid of.

Almost subconsciously, my expression softened. "Alright, here good for you Stephie?"

"Yes, here is fine." she said with a polite nod. "Well, it's quite obvious our closets are plotting against us, are they not?"

I cast her a bemused grin. "You know, I always wanted to meet this one..." I muttered, tossing a sideways glance at Vash, "But I never expected he'd come out my ruddy closet! He knocked me over when he did too!" I suddenly recalled all the times I'd fallen over since his arrival. "I've been on the floor quite a bit recently..."

With an almost wistful smile, Stephie murmured, "Well, I never expected this one to come out of my closet. You of course know who I would have loved to see emerge from my closet."

I smirked at her far off look. "Oh, poor Stephie doesn't get her wolf-boy."

Casting me a confused glance, Vash questioned, "'Wolf-Boy'? Did you mean Wolfwood? Is he here too??"

"No, sorry. No gun toting priests in this reality. But we do apparently have one very egocentric wizard..." I trailed off as I warily eyed Lockhart. I too, had read the Harry Potter series cover to cover, and I never held much affection for the adled wizard.

Obviously noting my wary look, Stephie laughed warmly. "Yes, quite." 

Of course, Lockhart seemed to notice my eyeing him as well. "Is it my fault I have grown accustomed to being famous?" he said turning to Stephie.

"Yes, it is your fault, because technically you wouldn't be famous if you weren't already trying to feed that ego of yours, or have you forgotten that your "fame" is built on what everyone but yourself have done? Hmm?" she said, seemingly quite irritated.

A bit perplexed, Lockhart scratched his head. "What do you mean? How can you possibly know anything about me?"

"Oh Merlin ..." she closed her eyes and uttered a soft sigh. "You really are adled. Didn't I just explain all of this to you? Remember those books I showed you? They tell me all I need to know about you."

"The books?" he muttered, thinking hard. "Oh! The books!"

"Yes, the books oh-one-who-has-the-most-abysmal-memory-span."

Snickering, I decided now might be a good opportunity to explain my situation to Vash a bit more. "See? I know lots about you too! Only I get it from watching the show that you're a part of."

"And what exactly do you know about me?" he asked, with a trademark curious grin.

__

This should be fun… I thought, grinning wickedly.

"Oh plenty..." I began, counting off on my fingers. "Let's see, there's Wolfwood Milly and Meryl for starters... Then there's Rem and Knives... You have an insatiable appetite for donuts… You call yourself 'A hunter of peace, chaser of the elusive mayfly known as love'… Your personal motto is "Love and Peace"... _and, _you're not exactly human. Did I miss anything?" I said, finishing with a triumphant smirk, noticing Stephie smiling as I ran through the list.

Vash merely stared at me with wide-eyed shock.

"Well, as wonderful as our banter is, we need to figure out how to deal with our unexpected companions. We do have classes still and I have work."

I pondered my friend's comment for a moment. "Hmm, you're right. We can't very well leave these two home alone now can we?"

"No, that we cannot. This one knows nothing of living a normal life without magic." she said with a glance at Lockhart.

I nodded, when a thought suddenly struck me. "Hey Vash? Did you study Earth history with Rem?"

"Uh... yeah. What for?" he replied. slightly confused.

Turning back to my friend, I proposed, "What if we left them somewhere together?"

"Yes, but where? Here?"

"We could lock them back in one of our closets...." I sniggered with an evil grin.

"Yes, that is all well for you, but you've seen my closet, it's not exactly the lockable kind." she noted with a smirk. "Well, why don't we leave them here, as you do come out this way for school. On your way there you can have Donut Boy stay with Mr. Ego here."

I grinned. "That'll work... I just hope they can tolerate being together for that long...." I added with a sigh, wondering just how well Vash would get along with a big headed egotist like Lockhart.

"Yes, I'll cross my fingers while I am at work."

I grinned. "Me too..." _Oh please Kami, don't let this explode in my face… _Turning serious, I decided I needed to clear something up once and for all. "But just to clarify... You **_can _**see him, right?" I pointed to Vash.

"Yes, of course I can see him. Wait, can you see him" she replied, pointing to Lockhart.

I nodded. "So.. it's official then." I looked at Vash, and then back to Stephie.

"We've **BOTH **gone completely bonkers!"

"Not just bonkers, I believe stark raving mad is a better way to describe this." she said casting a glance at both Lockhart and Vash.

I gave a wise nod. "Quite right. Just as long as we're clear on that then."

"Yes, we're more than clear on that."

Just as I was about to say something else, I felt a rather annoying poke in my side. "What?!?!"

"Donuts?" the gunman said, giving me a puppy-dog face and pleading eyes.

I smacked myself upside the head in both frustration and amusement. "Fine! Yes! We'll go get your donuts!" Turning back to Stephie, "Sorry, but me and my hallucination here have to go... donut run."

"It's all right, I understand. He wouldn't be the Donut Boy without the donut run. In any case I need to get this one to a store. He is in sore need of normal type clothes and he is NOT wearing my step-father's clothes."

"Hmmm..." I muttered, eyeing Vash as I did. "We may need to go shopping for this one too... can't always go out in full 'I'm a wanted outlaw, fear me!' attire now can we?"

The said wanted outlaw shot me a disdainful look at the prospect of ridding himself of his trademark red leather coat.

"Well, either way, we'd best be going." I stood, motioning for Vash to follow me.

Perfect hostess that she is, Stephie jumped up to get the door with a warm smile. "I would say come again soon, but I know you both are, so I think we'll skip that and just say instead have a good day."

With a smile of his own, Lockhart added, "It was pleasant to meet you both."

"You too." I said, grinning at Stephie. Looking at Lockhart, "Er... yes... nice to meet you as well..." I replied, still not being entirely trusting of him, knowing what he was like from the books.

Not bothering to watch where he was going, Vash happily bid Stephie and her visitor adieu. "Yeah! Nice too meet y-"

SMACK!

With a heavy groan, poor Vash backed away from the doorframe, while Stephie cast him a concerned glance. "Oh Merlin! Are you all right, Vash?

With yet another groan, Vash walked through the door again, this time making sure to duck **under** the doorframe. "Yeah..."

I shook my head, half in sympathy and half in amusement. "Come on... Bavarian chocolate cream filled donuts await..."

Instantly recovering Vash cried out happily. "ALRIGHT!!!!!"

Stephie merely laughed merrily. "Well have fun you two! Bye."

Vash waved happily back at her following me back out into the rain, in search of new and improved donuts.

~~~*~~~

A/N: Just a quick note- remember that **long** alias I reminded Vash of? Well, it really is one of my favorite Vash quotes from the anime! ^_^x He says it when he first introduces himself to Wolfwood. Subsequently, I finally found it (after looking _everywhere_ for the correct version) on a site called Dues Ex Machina, so go there and look at all the wonderful Vashie goodness! (-- slipping into over-obsessed fangirl mode ~_~x;; )


	4. Note to self: Buy taller umbrella

A/N: Whoo! Another chapter! And more random cameos!! ^_^x Well, so it's a mini cameo… but still! It's there! _And_… now that I actually have a few reviewers, I am going to take a moment to thank you…

Thestral1: er…. not really a thanks to her perse…. though I _do_ owe her much thanks for the idea for this little thing… but this is more of a shameless plug for her originally version of this fic (mine is actually a spin-off of hers!) which is called "The Student, The Wizard, and The Closet". So go find it and read it! It's good!

Saberpilot: ^_^x I'm glad you like it! And see? I updated!

Jeril Dragonsoul: I know what you mean, fics like that _are_ getting a bit redundant aren't they? ~_~x;; However, I promise that this will **not** turn into one of those kinds of fics, as it is supposed to be set in the real world. Therefore, my character's biggest problem will probably be figuring out how to get Vash back to his own time.... of course, that's not to say she can't at least have a crush on him… ^_^x But no saving the world and definitely no cliché sunsets for me!

Sailor-Armitage: ^_^x YAY! I like it when people love my writing! So here's the update!

xRingo-Chanx: ACK! You caught me… ^_^x;; I was wondering how long I could get away with that before someone would point it out. But not to worry… just for you I added in an explanation. So review and let me know if you think it's too OOC! ^_^x And btw, thanks for all the wonderful comments! It's nice to know that I seem to have his character down!

ShadowDemon+Gengar: If you thought _that_ was good, then go read Thestral1's fic, "The Student, The Wizard, and The Closet" (--shameless plug) It's done in "Stephie's" POV and it's full of weird Lockhart goodness! Incidentally, this is really just a spin-off of that one… but I'm glad you like it!

Keep the reviews coming please! They're what I live for! And now for more Vash goodness!! ^_^x

Disclaimer: I own an alarm clock…. that's about it…

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 4**

Vash and I stepped off of Stephie's front porch and out into the pouring rain once more. And once again, I was faced with the task of trying to fit both my self and Vash under my rather small umbrella. Now, normally, this shouldn't have caused me such problems. But, when you take into consideration the fact that Vash is just over seven feet tall, while I am only about five and a half feet tall, give or take a few inches, it presents at least one major problem. In other words, I couldn't quite figure out exactly how to hold the umbrella high enough to shield him from the downpour. Still, Vash didn't seem quite as perplexed by this as I did. 

"Er… Vash?"

He turned back to look at me, soaking wet. "Yeah?"

"Um… I get the fact that you've never really seen rain before and all… and it's probably great fun for you to be standing out here getting soaked… but you _do_ realize that you're just going to get sick by doing that, right?" I was trying my hardest to keep in mind the fact that Vash couldn't possibly know everything about this world, no matter how much Earth history Rem may have taught him, nothing compares to the real thing.

"Oh… rain makes you sick?" he asked, quite confused. 

__

He always seems to be confused… I snorted at such a thought. _Well of course! You'd be just as confused if you wound up on an entirely different world!_ Shaking my head, "No Vash, the rain doesn't make you sick. But standing out in the cold while you're soaking wet will."

"Oh! That makes sense I guess…" 

__

Hrmmm… I wondered, _ now if I can just figure out how to-_ "Hey!" My musings had effectively been cut short by Vash plucking the umbrella out of my grasp… and holding it, almost chivalrously, over the both of us. 

"What?" he said, giving me one of his best smiles.

I merely rolled my eyes, _silly Liz, you're not allowed to fall for a nonexistent character just because he happens to act like a perfect gentleman! _Looking back up at him, I flashed him a grateful smile. "Thanks." I began to lead the way once more, "Come on… let's go get you those donuts!"

~~~*~~~ 

Fortunately for me, the rest of our little adventure to the donut shop was uneventful. Well, except for when Vash nearly convinced me to buy the shop's entire stock of fresh donuts…. _damn persuasive gunman!_ Upon returning home, I realized that I still had some work left to do, by way of cleaning my room. Turning my key in the lock, I opened the door and tossed my raincoat in the closet. Taking one look at Vash, who was happily munching from the infamous pink cardboard box I had just purchased for him, I realized that he was still dripping wet, despite our best efforts to stay dry. With a heavy sigh, I gently retrieved the donuts from him. "Here. Let me have your coat."

"What for?" he asked, suddenly wary of me.

I rolled my eyes, "Because it's **wet**. You can't wear wet clothing all the time, you'd freeze. Give it to me and I'll hang it up to dry and you can have it back later, I promise." Reluctantly, he handed over the trademark red leather accessory, and stood before me in the same attire he was shown in at the end of the series. 

Handing him back the donuts, a thought struck me, "Hey wait… you got rid of this…" I said confused, indicating the coat I was now hanging up in the closet.

He realized what I meant, and gave a small nervous chuckle. "Well… I got kinda attached and wound up going back for it…"

I smirked, trying not to laugh. _The most feared man on all of Gunsmoke, has a 'security blanket' of sorts!_

"What?" he pouted through another donut.

"Oh nothing… just random thoughts." Regaining my composure, I remembered the work that awaited me once more. "Alright, you can stay here and eat your donuts or whatever you want to do, but I've got to go finish cleaning my room. So stay out of trouble alright?" He merely nodded his response, too obsessed with the donut box to formulate a coherent reply.

I groaned upon entering my room. It was relatively clean, except for the packing boxes that were scattered about. I was planning on repainting soon ,and therefore had packed my entire existence into boxes. Unfortunately I needed to put them all up on the top shelf of my closet, which just happened to be a) a bit too high for me to reach without the aid of a chair or stool, and b) the boxes themselves were all rather heavy, making it exceedingly difficult for me to lift them just off the ground. "Damn…" I muttered, "I've got to do this anyway… but they're so heavy!" Sighing, I went back to the task at hand, and once more began to heave the boxes up onto the top shelf of my closet.

"Urg…" _Bloody heavy boxes…_ I closed my eyes in frustration as I shoved the box onto the shelf, and was quite surprised to feel the weight suddenly leave my hands. _Did it fall?_ I quickly opened my eyes, only to find Vash standing next to me, and the box safely on the top shelf. "Er…"

"You know… those boxes look much to heavy for you to be lifting yourself." he said with a grin, powered sugar all over the front of his face; left over from his last donut no doubt.

I stifled a laugh, "um… you have powdered sugar on your face…" I managed to say without so much as a snicker.

He blushed a pale shade of pink as he snatched a tissue from the box I keep on my desk to rid himself of the offending sugar. "Why don't you get someone to help you with those?" he said in an obvious attempt to change the subject as he gestured to the numerous boxes.

I rolled my eyes, "I'd love to, but there's no one here to ask. Unless you think my dog could manage it." I retorted with a playful smirk.

Vash looked a little bewildered at this. "I'm here," he began, "You _could_ ask me to help you."

__

Erk… right…"I hadn't thought of that…" I admitted a bit sheepishly. "I'm just not used to having you around yet…"

He merely grinned disarmingly at me.

"So… would you mind helping me put these away Vash?"

He grinned once more, and began to pick up boxes and place them on the shelf effortlessly, as though each was as light as a feather. All I could do was stand on my chair in awe.

In a matter of minutes, all the boxes had been neatly stacked and put away, courtesy of one very tall, very strong gunman. I, however, was still standing on my chair, staring at Vash, lost in thought. _He's a lot stronger than he looks… I swear he lifted a few of those one handed… and he really is as nice and helpful as he seemed in the anime. I just wish he had never had go through all that… why is it no one ever bothered to see this side of him before? Or is it just that he's hidden himself from people so much over the years that he's never given them a chance to see-_

"-ey! Hello? Are you okay?" Vash said, waving a hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah… I'm fine…" I muttered, still trying to figure it out.

"Um… do you need some help getting down or something?" he asked, noticing that I was still atop my desk chair.

__

Baka! How long have you just been standing here? "Er… no, I can get down my-" suddenly my feet were no longer safely atop the chair, but hovering mid air as Vash gently picked me up and set me down on the ground. Trying my hardest not to blush at the contact, I managed to mutter ,"um… thanks…"

He smiled, "So what do we do now?"

"Er…." I thought hard, what exactly are you supposed to do with anime character that's walked through your closet? "I have no idea."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then shrugged. "Neither do I."

I laughed. "Of course you don't! You've never been here before!"

He laughed as well, "You're right! So…?"

I grinned, "Well, I _could_ make dinner…"

He smiled happily, apparently Vash the Stampede would never say no to a free meal. "Alright then. I'll go make us something…" I said as I walked into the kitchen, Vash in tow.

~~~*~~~

While Vash sat down to eat his serving of the frozen pizza I had thrown in the microwave, I went back to my room to call Stephie, as I had realized that Vash still had no clothes beside the red coat and the pajamas he had always worn in the anime.

I picked up the phone, dialed, and waited while it rang on the other end.

After a few rings, I heard her pick up the receiver and manage a squeaky "Hello?"

I sighed in relief at her friendly voice, "Stephie? It's Liz."

"Oh, hello Liz. How are you?"

"Tired." I confessed, though grinning. It had been a rather long day between getting to her house, fetching donuts, and cleaning my room, though Vash _did_ do most of the work on the last bit. "And you?"

She sighed into the phone, "Same. It's quite strange having a wizard staying here, especially one that is addled and yet very egocentric at the same time."

"Yes... and having a rather... energetic gunman about the house makes for some 'interesting' times." I muttered, remembering how he had bounced around in excitement at the donut shop. "Anyway... the reason I called was I was wondering... have you gotten Lockhart clothes yet?"

I was greeted with another miserable sigh. "No, I haven't yet. I was planning on going tomorrow. Why?"

"Because I haven't either.... and I was just thinking that Lockhart might be a bit more of a handful than Vash.... at least donut-boy's read about earth and lived without magic..."

She laughed. "Yes, he certainly will be a handful. Not only does he not know anything about 'muggles' but he's also got that horrible short term memory."

Laughing along with her, I said "Well, what do you say we go shopping together then? I'll help you keep and eye on the wizard... and you can help me keep the fiend away from the donut stand!" I finished with an amused chuckle.

I could almost hear her smile with her next statement. "Yes, that sounds fairly fabulous. You do realize, that you've quite made my day don't you?"

I grinned, though I was suddenly interrupted by Vash, as he had finished his dinner. "Hey! Are you ordering more donuts??" he asked eagerly. Placing a hand over the receiver, I turned and responded to his question first. "No Vash! I am NOT ordering donuts over the phone!" Turning back to the phone, I replied, "Yes, I'm sure. So, tomorrow then, at the mall?"

She laughed, having obviously heard my remark to Vash. "Sounds perfect, what time?"

Pausing to think for a moment, I decided on a good time. "How about around 12:00? Then we can have lunch and such as well."

"Fairly fabulous! It's a plan then."

"OH! Where shall we meet? The mall's a fairly large place you know..." I said, thinking that one could easily get lost if they did not know where they were going.

"How about in front of the Disney Store on the second floor?"

I grinned. "Sounds fabulous... so we'll meet there around 12:00 then?"

"Yesh, Disney Store at noon. Fabulous-" She was suddenly cut off by a slightly more masculine voice saying something to the effect of 'what is that and are you talking into the weird thing'. "Uh, I'd better go. See you then, Liz. Say hi to Vash for me."

"Alright. See you tomorrow then! OH! And good luck with Lockhart! 'Bye!" I clicked off the cordless phone, and turned to Vash. "You know, you're not supposed to interrupt people when they're having a conversation."

"Sorry…" he muttered sheepishly. "So… what _were _you doing?"

I grinned, "Arranging to get you some new clothes…"


	5. Elevators: Harder Than They Look

A/N: ACK!!!! Gomen minna-san for taking so long to update… Ruddy writer's block!!! ::steals colt revolver from Vash:: DIE!!!! ::repeatedly shoots block of wood with "Writer's" written on it::

I feel better now. Thanks for your patience, hope you enjoy this next chapter! (look for personal thanks at end of chapter! ^_^x)

Disclaimer: Don't own Trigun, don't own Disney (right. Like any college student could even hope to own Disney!) ::sniff:: I don't even own cold cereal… I had mush for breakfast…

P.S. I don't own mush either…

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 5**

The next morning, I awoke to discover that Vash had once again, managed to be up before me and disappear. _Where in the name of Buddha is that blasted needle noggin'?? _I wasn't angry with him, I simply found it unsettling that he awoke so early and had Kami knows how much time to get himself in trouble, or hurt, or lost, or… I groaned, it was far too early to ponder the possibilities of Vash deciding to get up early and explore 'the real world' by himself. Almost grudgingly, I fetched my favorite pair of worn jeans along with a black tee-shirt before leaving my room in search of the aforementioned gunman.

"Morning!" said a far too perky voice from somewhere behind me when I stepped into the kitchen.

"GAH! Would you stop that??" I cried in surprise, all the while trying to calm my racing heart.

Vash's only response was a somewhat bemused look.

__

He does that on purpose… I just know it! I shook my head, it wouldn't do to start my mornings with a heart attack. Shooting him a glance, I managed a simple question….

"How does cold cereal sound for breakfast?"

~~~*~~~

The rest of the morning was rather uneventful, though I found myself thanking whatever deity was watching for granting Vash the use of buses on Gunsmoke. I'd no idea what in all the high heavens I would have done had he not been used to a bus.

However, even for all Vash's previous experience, there was nothing we could do about the bus being late. I growled, I did not like to be tardy when meeting someone, and Stephie was not someone I wanted to keep waiting. _Especially not when she's got Lockhart with her…_ Racing into the mall, I practically dragged Vash along.

"Come on! We're going to be late!"

"But… can't we just…"

I sighed. "I promise that after we're done shopping, I'll give you a full tour of the mall, but right now we've really got to go, okay?"

He looked a bit disappointed, but only for a split second before his ever present cheerful mask was back in place. "Alright."

We made a mad dash for the elevator, which, thankfully, was empty. I smiled, relieved, as I pushed the button for the second floor. Turning to my companion, I found him looking around the walls of the elevator with great curiosity. I smiled, it was hard to find someone with such wonder and interest in everything nowadays.

"What?" he asked, having caught my curious smile.

I opened my mouth to respond, when the lights went out.

~~~*~~~

Fifteen minutes later found me slamming a frustrated fist against the buttons of the elevator, using all the strength I had against the foul contraption, as though I could beat the machine to a bloody pulp with my fists. "Dammit!" I practically howled in frustration.

Glancing up at me from his position on the floor, Vash simply stated, "Haven't you ever heard of Love and Peace?"

I took one look at him, and burst out laughing. "Thanks, I needed that." I said in reply to the rather surprised look he was giving me.

He smiled, a genuine one for the first time since I met him. "Now that's a smile that would've made Wolfwood proud." I said with a grin.

He looked somewhat saddened, for a moment, but smiled again once more, though a bit more wistfully this time.

"Well, looks like we might be stuck in this forsaken box, so what do you suggest we do?" I asked, curious to see what his answer would be.

Vash looked thoughtful for a moment, before offering up a shrug.

"Alright… er…. we could…." I sighed, "I have no idea."

He laughed at me then, _only Vash would something funny in this…_ I thought, just before giving into laughter myself. With shrug, I sat down next to him on the floor of the elevator, bracing my hands on the carpeting for support.

I yelped in pain as I pushed my weight against my right hand. _Oh damn it all to hell, bloody elevator, why did it have to be so… so… sigh… well it **is** made of metal…_

"What's wrong??" came Vash's concerned voice, snapping me out of my musings.

I looked at him a bit sheepishly, "It seems I may have hit the elevator a bit harder than I should have, I must've bruised my hand or something. It's nothing really."

Vash frowned, "If it was nothing you wouldn't have yelled." he chided me, "Let me see."

I shook my head, "Vash, it's nice of you to be concerned and all, but it's really nothing. You don't need to worry yourself."

He merely rolled his eyes at me, my only warning before he quickly snatched my hand from behind my back and pulled it, and me, over to examine the damage.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked as he began to turn my hand in every direction possible.

"Hmmm… does that hurt?" he asked poking one of my knuckles.

"OW! Yes! So stop it!"

He ignored me, and flipped my hand over so that my palm was face up. 

"Hey! I said- oh…" I said as most coherent thought left my mind. Vash had found certain pressure points on my palm and was rubbing careful circles on and around them, relieving the pain I had inflicted while trying to destroy the elevator bare handed.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" I muttered incredulously once he stopped and my thoughts resumed their normal coarse. "It really helped!"

Vash grinned, "Well…"

~~~*~~~

Three hours later we were still talking, mainly about random trivial things, but it made the time in the elevator fly by. I explained things about the 'real world' to him, and he filled in little details about his life; things I didn't know from the anime.

"You're kidding! I can't even begin to imagine Knives doing that!" I said, clutching my sides to hold in the laughter.

"No way! It's true! I mean… we _were_ kids after all. Even Knives had to act like one sometime!" Vash replied, laughing himself at the memory of his childhood, however short it truly was.

I grinned, "Too bad **that** wasn't in the anime, he'd never live it down!" I snorted. I decided that now would be an excellent time to get some answers to slightly more… important questions.

"So… "I began carefully, "do you think you could tell me… what happened?"

He stopped laughing, and got uncharacteristically quiet. "It's not important."

I grinned just slightly, "If it wasn't important you wouldn't be so quiet Donut-boy."

He smiled sadly and gave a soft sigh, "Knives woke up." he stated simply.

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "I figured that. What happened?"

He took a deep breath, "Well, at first I thought he might have changed, but then… once he got better, he ran off." He looked down at the floor, his voice becoming a bit more strained. "But there's more to it than that. Before he left he… he attacked the girls."

"Oh gods, Vash…"

"Milly was fine," he grinned ruefully, "she even tried to tell me it wasn't my fault. But…" he took another deep breath, "Meryl was shot. Four times. Once for every time I shot him in our last battle. Ironic huh?"

I could do nothing but pull him into a sympathetic hug, even though I realized I barely knew him, it just felt like it was something he needed.

He returned my grip tightly, like he needed reassurance that it was real… _oh shut up, you're not helping Liz._ I scolded myself for such bad puns.

"Then what happened?" I asked carefully, my voice somewhat muffled through the leather of his coat.

"I left. I helped the big girl get Meryl to the hospital, and then I made her promise to keep Meryl from following me when she woke up, and then I left… to find Knives again."

"You haven't found him yet…" I said, more voicing my realization aloud than asking a question of him.

"No… I was running through a town, trying to escape another group of townspeople that wanted to kill me, when I wound up here." I could almost feel his rueful grin, "they had a good reason to hate me this time. Knives had been there a day before and he… he… killed a few people… claiming to be 'Vash the Stampede'."

"Bastard!" I cried indignantly.

He chuckled, "Hey now, he's still my brother you know…"

"Sorry… but still." Suddenly, a thought hit me, "Wait a minute!" I cried, pulling back from him so that I could see his face. "You said you were running through a town just before you wound up here?"

"Yeah…"

"Vash, this is **very** important. What **exactly** do you remember, just before you showed up in my closet?"

"I-"

DING!

The elevator chimed, doors opening to the second floor.

"Hold that thought, we're out!" I cried happily, grabbing his hand and pulling the both of us out of the elevator before those infernal doors could close again. Turning back to him I grinned, "If that doesn't make me claustrophobic, nothing will." 

He laughed, sweeping me into a quick hug before I even had a chance to blink. "Thanks." he whispered. I was back standing in front of him before what happened even had a chance to register in my brain.

"You're welcome Vash, now… what do you say to a batch of celebratory donuts?" I asked with a playful grin.

"That'd be great, but aren't we supposed to meet that friend of yours?" he said with another laugh, and a _real_ smile.

"Kami! You're right! We're so late! She's gonna bloody kill me!!" I yelled, grabbing his hand once more and heading for the Disney Store. We made it there in record time, stopping out front so I could search for Stephie. I saw her a few feet away even as she caught sight of me. I ran up to her and Lockhart, Vash in tow.

"You'll never believe what just happened to me!" We said in unison.

A/N: HAHA! Cliffhangers are my friend! ::wicked grin:: Anyway….

Thestral1: ^_^x Thanks again for lovely wonderful ideas! Oh… by the way… ::looks at beginning of this A/N:: Dammit Steve!!! ^_~

Saberpilot: Glad you like it! Oh! And you should really go read "The Student, The Wizard, and The Closet" by Thestral1… it's from "Stephie's" POV and there's lots more Lockhart goodness!!!

Sakura (and Selena ^_~x): Oooohhh! Sessha loves such nice compliments, indeed I do! ::gives Sakura and Selena each their own donut with sprinkles!::

Doomsdaybringer: Cool name! And sorry… but I love Vash more (::glomps Vash::)… so I hope you're not too mad about the way I made Knives seem in this chapter… ~_~x;;

Aaringo: You're welcome! ^_^x And yeah, I thought it'd make sense that way since he has had it all that time… besides… I LOVE that red coat! He just looks so good in it! ::drools::

Wolfwoodsgrl28: YAY! I like it when people like my stories! Hope you enjoyed this last chapter!

FluffysBijin05: Why thank you! I like to think I can portray Vash pretty well… but really that's decided by nice readers like you! ^_^x And as for Lockhart… dunno… you'll just have to find out! (or you could read "The Student, The Wizard, and The Closet" for more Lockhart goodness!) And YES!!! That's exactly who I meant when I said wolfboy! ::big rurouni grin:: 10 donut points for you for reading the Harry Potter books and picking up obscure references!!! ^________________^x

Lady Venom2: ^_^x I do try my hardest to update regularly, though this chapter was a bit later than I had hoped… ~_~x And as for Wolfwood… ::sniff:: Sorry… but as much as I love him… this _is_ set post series… and I can't bring people back…. ::sobs onto Vash's shoulder:: (would've said more, but if I did it would be too spoilery, and I've no idea how much of the series you've seen)

And special thanks to anyone I may have missed!!! The next chapter will be out much sooner than this one was, promise! ^_^x


	6. Of New Pants And Juniper Breeze

A/N: ACK! Yet again… it's taken me much longer than I had hoped to get this chapter out. *sigh* Oh well… at least it's here, ne? And I shall save the thanks for the end of this chapter, as it's long enough without having to scroll through them…

****

The Student, The Typhoon, and The Closet

**Chapter 6**

"You'll never believe what happened to me!" we cried in unison.

"What happened to me? What happened to you?" we both replied.

"We got stuck in an elevator!" this talking in unison thing was getting interesting.

"Us too!" _Wow… Ironic…_

"Really?" _Okay… enough of this twinish thing…_

"Stop THAT !!!!!!" we cried, still speaking in unison. As soon as the words left our mouths however, we took one look at each other and burst out laughing.

Through my mirth, I happened to notice Vash standing next to me, mouth agape in shock. He turned to Stephie's rather odd companion, and asked incredulously, "What the hell was that?"

Lockhart looked equally as flummoxed and turned to Vash, "I haven't the foggiest."

Vash turned back to look and Stephie and myself, still obviously bewildered by our uncanny ability to think almost exactly the same way, and muttered, "Maybe it's some kind of weird code..."

Lockhart simply continued to stare, entirely confused.

As soon as I had stopped laughing long enough to notice Vash and Lockhart's confused expressions, I turned to my friend with a grin, "Er.. Stephie... I think we should save the explanations for later..."

"Yesh, I do believe you are right. Well, since most of the day has been wasted because of those ruddy elevators, maybe we should just start the shopping." she said with a look of complete agony upon having to stay in the mall for such a long time. 

__

Poor Stephie, she really isn't into this whole shopping thing… I thought to myself upon seeing her pained expression. "Yes, maybe we should start with something simple... like shirts or some such?"

"Sounds perfect, put off the harder task for later. "

I nodded in agreement. "Right then, where to first?" I asked, looking at the various shops and store we were surrounded by.

"Well, er ..." she suddenly looked completely lost, "maybe we can go look at the directory thingie that lists all the stores?"

I frowned, staring at long lists for hours on end was not exactly something I enjoyed. "Perhaps we should start off with the more major stores... such as 'Pennys?"

"Sounds fine to me. Let's lock and load." she said as she began to head towards the nearby department store.

Next to me, Vash rolled his eyes and muttered something about overused cliches.

I snorted, "Not what she meant, Donut-boy." I said, entirely amused by his perceptive skills.

"Oro?" Stephie exclaimed, looking entirely confused. _Huh… guess she missed that one._

I shook my head. "Nothing. Let's go." I said, flashing her a grin and grabbing Vash to drag him, by force if necessary, to the nearby store.

"Hey! Can't you be a little more gentle?" he cried in a mocking tone, looking slightly amused by the entire situation while a playful look flitted behind his eyes.

Stephie merely laughed and turned to her wizard companion. "Well, let's get moving. "

We moved over the few feet to the store, each of us dragging along our respectful companions, though Lockhart looked far move pleased at his surroundings than the rest of us.

Upon our arrival, Stephie immediately began perusing the shirt racks. "Well let's see ... shirts ... hmm" She then spotted the Dockers section and grabbed a few button down blouses at random, looking at the tags for their sizes before handing them to Lockhart. 

"Take a look at these ... " she muttered, thrusting the shirts towards him before looking around for more.

Unfortunately, Lockhart didn't seem too pleased with her selection. Holding them at arms length, he uttered a statement that I was sure would cause my friend to destroy him, "Stephie, I do believe you are mistaken. I would never be caught wearing such unfashionable clothes."

"Excuse me?"

"How am I to look handsome and dashing in ..."he held up the shirts with a sickly expression, "these?"

__

Moron… he's about to get creamed… I thought quietly as Vash and I watched the scene unfolding before our eyes. For a minute, I thought it was like watching a car accident on the freeway, terrible, but you can't stop watching.

Stephie sighed, and turned to Lockhart, "Gilderoy ... we've been through this before. The whole point of this little expedition was to find you muggle things so you wouldn't stick out. Do not undermine the plan. I've been stuck in an elevator for three hours with you and we still have to shop in this blasted mall and I really want to get out of here as quick as possible. Work with me here."

Unfortunately, the wizard didn't seem to be picking up on the bright red WARNING! signs right in front of his eyes. "B-but ... still ... even when you say muggle I am sure some dress sharp and keen. "

"When they can ACTUALLY afford it. I am a poor college student!!" she said, barely raising her voice, though with that tone she really didn't need to.

I suddenly felt a little sorry for the egotistical jerk, and, deciding I'd rather _not_ see blood spilled in the middle of a department store, came to his rescue. "Erm... Stephie?" I said carefully as I tapped her shoulder to gain her attention.

She took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. "Yes?"

"Perhaps I should take Lockhart shopping for you?" I suggested, glancing at Vash, "You wouldn't mind follow Stephie around for a bit would you?"

For a split second, he looked almost… disappointed, but then his face switched back to that carefully programmed grin of his. "Sure!" he replied, almost too cheerfully.

I mouthed a quick "Thank you!!!" in response, and turned to my friend. "So what do you think?"

"Er ... I don't think Vash is happy with the idea and besides I feel bad ... I can do this ... really ..." she said, tensing a bit.

I snorted, shooting her a meaningful look. "Right. Trust me... you were about to rip the poor man to shreds. I'll take him off your hands for.. oh.. an hour?"

"Shreds?" she questioned with a smirk, "And here I declawed my fangs just the other day ... odd." She shrugged, "If you insist, you may, but seriously I can do it."

__

Good enough for me… I thought with a roll of my eyes, "Come on..." I said, grabbing Lockhart's sleeve and dragging him off to another store. "One hour! Front of the Disney Store! Bye!" I called over my shoulder. 

Once we were in yet another section of shirts, this time in a different store, I whirled to face him. "You do realize that you were about to become a speck on the pavement simply over a set of shirts?" I said, giving him an accusing look that I accompanied with an actual physical growl.

He gulped, "Er ... are you two perhaps related?" he asked, laughing nervously.

I sighed heavily, and took a calming breath. "Alright look. Let me explain something: A) I am FAR more frightening than anything you may have seen from Stephie, I just generally try to control it a bit more. B) I do NOT like you anywhere near as much as she seems to, I simply saved your butt because I don't necessarily believe in killing without just cause..." _Not that you weren't **real** close to deserving a good butt-kicking…_ I thought, glaring at him, "and C) Just because you think it looks good on you in Potterverse doesn't mean you won't get laughed at for wearing it here. In other words, your sense of fashion does not apply in this reality, so get over it." I finished, turning huffily back towards the shirts, intent on finding _something_ he could live with.

He gulped once more. "It's just a lot to get used to. People don't know I exist here and I am told I am not real. Might as well be ghost ... everything I am used to is upside down. Even my memory."

__

Damn… he would have a good reason for being a jerk, wouldn't he? "Well, you could do yourself a favor and try NOT to act so pompous all the time... it's alright to be confused and lost, just don't be so arrogant about it."

He sighed, "Right. "

I gave him a quizzical look, "Hey... look I'm generally not all that bad." I said with a sigh of my own. "I just tend to be very over-protective of my friends... nasty little habit it is..." Grabbing a few good looking yet reasonably priced shirts, I tossed them his way. "Here. Try these."

"All right, but ... er ... there are changing rooms right?"

I laughed, gratefully letting go of any remaining anger. "Yes baka. They're over there." I said pointing, when a mischievous thought entered my mind. "Unless of course.. you prefer to get dressed in public?" _Ugh… not that I'd want to see that anytime soon…_

He quirked one eyebrow at me, "I'd just as soon as spare the public." he said, as though reading my mind, and headed off to the changing rooms.

I snorted, muttering "Thank Kami for that... for a second I thought he might actually think he'd be TREATING the public..." Shaking my head, I continued to peruse the shirt rack, all the while shaking with silent laughter. 

After a few moments, he returned, holding the pile of shirts I had given him. "Just how many are we getting?"

I glanced up from the racks. "Just a few, once you have them you can always come out and get more should the need arise. I'd say three at best for now."

He glanced at the pile, "Well ... I say ... I'd say this blue and grey ones are nice, but these other ones ..." he trailed off, holding up a white, beige, and a green shirt. "Which do you think is my color?"

I was forced to hold back a laugh. "Well... I personally like green... but that's just me."

"Green it is. A lady's opinion is always the better one."

I smirked, "Ah... flattery will get you everywhere. Here." I grinned, handing him a stack of pants. "Try those, while I put these back..." I said, taking the rejected shirts from him.

"It wasn't flattery!" he stated, albeit a bit huffy, and stalked away with the pants.

I rolled my eyes, "My, but aren't we defensive..." I muttered at his retreating form, stifling a giggle.

A few moments later, he returned once more. "Well, these three are fine." he said, gesturing to a pair of denim and two pairs of khaki pants.

"I approve." I said, slightly surprised. Grinning, I led him towards the cashier. "Let's go pay for these and then we can get you some decent shoes."

Grabbing the bags, and doing my best not to wince at the small bit of pressure I was putting on my right hand, which was still pained from the elevator, _damned metallic contraption! Curse you!_

Ignoring such thoughts, I decided to try for idle conversation. "So... what do you think of it here?"

He paused, "It's different I'll say ..." He looked at me for a moment, before asking, "So you and Stephie are close friends?"

I smiled and shifted the bags. "Yes. I'd have thought that to be fairly obvious."

"Well you can be friends with someone and not necessarily be close ..." he said, somewhat seriously.

I frowned, remembering such 'friends' of my own. "Yes... That's true."

"So, where did you to meet?"

__

What's with all the Stephie-related questions? "In English class at school." I replied, grinning slightly at a few memories, "We discovered we had a shared interest in a particular group of actors..." _Oh Python boys, how we love you…_

"Oh. How long have you known her?" he asked curiously.

__

Maybe he likes… nah… "A few months now I believe." I glanced over at him, _but perhaps_...

"And Vash ... he's not from here either is he?" he asked, the same curious tone still present. 

I sighed, knowing where the gunman was from and what he'd been through, "No... Even though where Vash is from isn't all that much different from here... it's not exactly the best of places..." I grinned ruefully as another ironic thought entered my mind unbidden. "Though you know... he's famous where he's from too."

He glanced up at me "Really now?"

"Yes. But not in a good way..." I sighed once more. "You're lucky... most people that recognize you don't want to kill you." _Poor Vash…_

"I should hope not!" he cried, looking scandalized.

I laughed lightly, "Yes, well, Vash isn't quite so lucky. Basically every living person wants him dead... at least where he's from... though there are a few exceptions. That is why Vash tried to give you that false name when you first met, remember?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, "False name? Oh! Yes!"

I grinned, _he really does have a short-term memory_… "We're here." I declared, moving to enter the shoe store.

Frowning, I realized I might have a bit of a problem, "Hmmm... I've no idea what size you are..." Glancing around, I grabbed a pair I thought might fit, and handed them to him. "Try these."

He tried them on, and looked at me curiously. "You know, you're kind of scary when you do that."

"Do what?" I asked, entirely confused.

"Pull something off at random that actually suits me."

I laughed, "Just one of my many talents, Lockhart."

"Right, I'll say."

"So I take it you like them then?" I said as I eyed the pair of shoes. 

"Yes, I do. Will that be all here?"

I glanced around the store, not seeing anything else I thought he'd need. "Yes... I think so..." Checking my watch, I turned back to him. "Well... we've got about half an hour before we need to meet Stephie and Vash... Anything you'd like to do?" I asked as I paid for the shoes.

"Not particularly, though I am curious about that store over there..." he said simply, pointing towards a store across the way.

__

Oh dear Kami… The store that Lockhart just happened to be pointing at, was apparently the "Bath and Body" shop. I snorted, completely amused. "You really want to go into a shop dedicated entirely to bathing supplies?"

He looked slightly peeved. "Well, can I help it that I wish to stay cleanly and fragrant. I am sure I am not the only one."

I laughed, he was being entirely too defensive. "Calm down, Lockhart. I didn't mean anything by it. We can go if you wish." I headed towards the aforementioned store, wincing ever so slightly as I added the extra weight of the shoes to my injured hand. 

Unfortunately for my pride, my wince wasn't as discreet as I had hoped. "Would you like me to help you carry those?" he offered. _He's probably just mocking me…_

"No, thanks. I'm good." I replied, my pride getting in the way as usual, never bother to break my stride.

"No, I can see you're lying. As those packages are for me, what kind of gentleman wouldn't help carry those?"

I stopped and turned to look him square in the eye a moment, trying to judge the sincerity of his statement. "Well I'll be damned…" I muttered with a small smile as I handed him a few bags. "And here I though chilvary was supposed to be dead..."

He smiled, and shook his head, relieving me of the offered bags. "You thought wrong, gentle lady of the world of reality."

Okay, _now_ I was really laughing. "Gentle?" I started, an amused glint gracing my features, "You looked a bit frightened by me not too long ago."

"Work with me here, will you?"

"You've been hanging around Stephie far too long my friend." I said with yet another laugh.

"Yes. I still find it strange that I ended up in her closet. Weirdest thing that has happened to me thus far ... excepting that incident in this tunnel thing ... can't remember what happened ... but it was dark and my memory has never been the same since." He shrugged nonchalantly.

Nodding, I replied, "That, I can understand." I gave him a sympathetic smile. "But cheer up. Everything will turn out all right in the end."

"I hope." he said with a smile of his own.

" 'Our ticket to the future is always open'... you'll be fine." I stopped. "We're here."

For all intents and purposes, I can honestly say that until that point I had never truly understood the phrase, "like a kid in a candy store." He just looked so excited… by bath soap. Go figure.

I grabbed a bottle of my favorite body wash, I was running out and we were right there afterall. "Anything you want?"

He looked around a bit, and after a moment, spotted something that obviously caught his eye. "Merlin!" he exclaimed before composing himself. "This will be fine."

__

Hmmm… 'Juniper breeze…' "Who'd 'would've thought someone could be so amused by body wash?" I muttered, shaking my head as I went to pay for the items.

"It's the fragrance I like!" he said in a mock huffy voice.

I rolled my eyes at him "I'm sure it is." I didn't bother to hide my amusement this time. "Is there anything else you'd like to do?"

"Not particularly, will we go back to that Dizney store and wait out front?"

I nodded once more. "Yup." As I led him back, I decided to indulge my curiosity, just this once. "So....you seemed very interested in Stephie before..."

"Well I was curious. She seems to be so independent and so solitary, I was curious as to how close you two were. I know she still lives with her parents, but it seems like ... she may as well be an orphan. It's strange really."

"I see." I said softly, suddenly finding myself immersed in thoughts brought up by Lockhart's simple observances.

"Galleon for your thoughts?" I heard him say through the fog currently clouding my mind.

Shaking myself to get back to reality, I formed some response. "Hm? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking... how we all seem to be similar in that way...."

"I beg your pardon?" He looked a bit confused.

"Well... it's just what you said..." I frowned, _damn my lack of verbal skills… _"I mean, each of us, you, Stephie, Vash, me... we all sort... function independently and yet...."

"Yet ... ?"

"And yet... we really all seem to sort of need companionship... though it seems that all four of us have a tendency to try and distance ourselves from anything meaningful... friendwise..." I shook my head, ruddy philosophical moments. "Or perhaps I'm reading a bit too deep into things."

"You're making sense ..." he said, actually serious for once.

"It's sort of ironic when you think about it..." I released a soft laugh. "I really need to stop trying to analyze everything, don't I?"

"No, but Stephie was right when she said you were the brains of the group." he said, grinning.

__

Right… I thought with a laugh. "Not really. Most of the time I'm quite moronic, I assure you." I said playfully.

"I find that hard to believe." he retorted, flashing me what I'm sure was a roughish smile.

"Right." I said, rolling my eyes. "Oh hey! There's Stephie and Vash!" I waved, relieved to see that they both seemed to be in good spirits. "Looks like you'll be rid of me sooner than you thought, eh Lockhart?" I grinned.

"Now why would I want to be rid of you? You're relatively harmless." he said with a laugh.

I snorted, " 'Mostly harmless'... now where have I heard that before..." 

I grinned as Vash and Stephie approached. "You two have fun?…"

~~~*~~~

A/N: *insert evil laugh here* Sorry minna, but you've got yet another cliffie on your hands! ^_^x And I'm pretty dang sure the next chapter will be out much sooner, especially since I'm already halfway done! *big, goofy grin* Sooooo…. on to those of you who reviewed….

****

IMPORTANT NOTE: I know some of you might be a bit disappointed with the lack of Vashie-goodness in this last chapter… but trust me it was necessary. And besides… I'm hoping you'll all be quite happy with what I have in store for the next chapter… *sly wink*

Thestral1: **Everyone MUST go read her fic… NOW!!! ***sheepish smile* Well… okay… you don't have too… And thanks again for the wonderful ideas Thestral. *wink*

Saberpilot: Oooooo… good idea, I just might do that. Any suggestions? ^_^x But I am glad you realized that it was just there for a bit of fun.

Pudding333: I LOVE the name! Very Milly-ish! And I hope I continued soon enough for you…

LadyVenom2: ORO! *falls over anime style* WOW! I can hardly believe you actually read all that! I really don't deserve such wonderful attention… but thank you very VERY much! *big rurouni grin* And yes, it does make sense. Oh yeah… and I really like my little Vash pic too… you know… I actually made it from a very drool-worthy photo that's nice and big… he looks MUCH better in that one….

LifelongStampededK: *dances for joy along with you* Well… you'll just have to wait for that in the next chapter, though I can promise that the only jeans he even come close to wearing will be like the ones he wore in that one episode of the anime.…

Aaringo: Well… you wanted an encore… ^_^x *blushes* And thanks much for all your reviews! They bring my spirits up much the same way my story seems to do for you, so it's an even trade! And as for your ideas… *giggles* I know! I know! But you'll just have to wait and see… oh yes, sorry but the cliffie _is_ necessary here. And good luck with your fic!!! Like I said before, let me know when you get any part of it posted, because I'd love to read it! And if you have any other questions feel free to email me!

doomsdaybringer: I'm sorry! but look! no knives bashing here! And really… I don't hate Knives or anything… In fact he makes a really good bad guy… but like I said I'm biased towards Vash… But darn… Knives is such good looking pyscho…

The Vash The Stampede: Oooooo! A dozen! *drools* AHEM! Sorry… I think I like donuts as much as Vash… And I _did_ read your fic, and I think it's excellent! 

Hurricane Jenn: *winks* Just you wait for the sequal…

Sailor-Armitage: Yay! glad you liked them! And I hope you like this one as well! 

Koya Maki: *blushes* Sessha does not deserve such praise… but I'm glad this seems to have given you inspiration! I hope you liked this chapter!


	7. IMPORTANT! Read before the Chapter!

****

IMPORTANT! Author's Notes:

Hello to all my lovely readers… guess what? This my friends, is the chapter you've been waiting for. Er… that is… you would've been waiting for it if you had known it was coming… ::winks at two special people who actually **did** know this was coming…::

Anyway… what I'm trying to tell you… is that the following chapter will be done ENTIRELY in Vash's POV! Yes… that's right. You finally get to find out what the heck's been going on in that pretty blonde head of his. So… after you finish the chapter, **please** read and review, as it took me quite a while to write and really wasn't all that easy to do. Let me know if you think I did well, and if enough people like what I've done here, I'll probably post at least two more chapters with his POV. So… I'm going to do thanks here, and that way you can get straight to the fic!

Thanks to all readers!

-Scarlet Rurouni

Thestral1: ^___________^x Thanks much to you of course… and by the way… RUBBER DUCKIE!!! 

Aaringo: ::winks:: So… let me know what you think of this one… hoe you like it!

FluffysBijin05: YAY! thanks for letting me know. And yes, Black and Remus are two of my favorite characters… but I didn't pick the cameo player for this fic… that was all Thestral1's doing. ^_^x And I have actually read your stories… I really did like them… and I'm going to post reviews to you there, I've just been a bit busy today… So… here's hoping you like the next chapter!

Saberpilot: ^___________^x My friend gave me an excellent idea… and I am proud to say that I shall soon be posting exactly that… I just need to finish it first. But… if you leave me another signed review, I promise to email you a link the second I post it so you can read it! And please let me know when you upload those, 'cause I really would like to read them! ^_^x

Devon's Child: YAY! ::giggles::

doomsdaybringer: I promise… no senseless bashing in this next chapter either! ^_^x And OW! I've had stuff like that happen too… trust me… you've never lived until you had to show up to band one morning with your mouth love and your director STILL wants you to try and play… ~_~x;; Oh the humanity… ^_~x

Takma-rierah: ::pouts:: You've made me hungry… now I want cornbread…. dang… WAIT! I know! ::runs off to kitchen:: Oh yes! Thanks for all the lovely wonderful comments! ^_^x Cornbread here I come!!!!!


	8. Millie Tactics 101

****

The Student, The Typhoon, and The Closet

**Chapter 7**

"One hour! Front of the Disney Store! Bye!"

The brown haired girl shook her head. "Bye then, I suppose." I heard her give just the tiniest of sighs before she turned and looked at me. 

"So, it's just us then. So, shirts first?" she said with a tentative smile

"Eh heh... yeah..."

__

I hate shopping….

"I can tell you're not one for shopping, well neither am I, to tell you the truth."

For once, I managed a relieved sigh. "Good... for a minute I thought you might be one of those girls that gets all crazy whenever they go shopping..." _Just what I need… rabid… er… I think 'fangirls' was the term Liz used…_

Apparently, the short girl found this amusing, 'cause she just laughed and said, "Merlin no, I'd gag long before that."

__

Who's merlin?

I offered her a small smile. "Well then... guess we'd better get started." _Yeah… you say that… but do you even **know** what you're doing here?_

"Well, we can start by getting shirts for you. I suppose you would be a large. What color do you fancy?" She held out a few different colored shirts, none of them really looked like anything I was used to wearing... but then again... _I always did like red..._

"I kinda like those..." I said, pointing to three shirts, one red, one black, and one white. 

She smiled in a way I thought only Millie could get away with. "Wonderful taste, I say. The changing room is right over there aways" she pointed to a door against the wall behind me, "so go and see if they fit right."

"Do I really have too?" I pouted, hoping that I'd be able to get out of one of the worst parts of shopping.

She placed her hand over mine in what I guess was a reassuring gesture. "Trust me, I hate that part of shopping too, but it would be a waste of time and money if you just bought those without knowing if they fit or not."

__

How the hell does she do that???

I sighed, I wasn't going to win this one… "Alright..." I whined, taking the shirts and heading for this 'changing room' of hers.

Once I managed to actually get that damned little piece of metal to lock right, I looked through my previous selections. "Okay... let's see here..."

I tried on the dark red shirt first, _heh, matches my coat!_ I grinned at my reflection. "Hey there... lookin' pretty good!" I struck one of my patented 'tough outlaw' poses. "Vash the Stampede!!!" I sighed, shaking my head as I took off the shirt. "No matter how I say it... I can just never get used to that last part…"

After that I quickly tried on the rest of the shirts, happy to have gotten that over with, and headed back out to Stephie. "hey fit fine I guess... anything else?"

I guess I must've moved a little quieter than I thought, because she jumped and let out one those tiny little squeaks before she turned around and smiled at me. "W-well ... we need to get you pants and then shoes later."

__

She probably hates this as much as I do… I flashed her a grin, trying to be a little friendlier to her. "Well... the sooner we do this the sooner we'll be done, right?"

"Vash, I know you don't like shopping that much so don't feel the need to be overly cheery about it. Be yourself, please." she said with a smile as she handed me a few pairs of pants.

I shook my head, a real smile crossing my faces this time. "I swear... you and Liz must be related..." _I guess I'd better try these on too…_

Now that I had done it once, getting the door to shut and lock wasn't so hard, but I really didn't want to be in there too long, so I kinda pretended to try them on before I raced out of the tiny cubicle.

I found her standing at the clothes rack, staring off into space. I walked up quietly and tapped her on the shoulder. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Oh, nothing ... so, they fit?" she said, pointing at the pants I was holding.

I looked down at the jeans, then back at the girl in front of me. _I don't buy it…_ "They fit fine... but you looked like you were pretty deep in thought there." I grinned, "You know... it's not good to keep things bottled up." _You're one to talk._

Oh shut up.

"Ha! I see what you are doing. You're returning the favor, eh?" she declared, quirking up one eyebrow... _kinda like Liz does when she's confused..._

"Er.... what are you talking about?" 

She just laughed. "Never mind. I was just watching the people ... the families ..." she trailed off.

I looked past her to the groups of happy people wandering around the store… _They don't know how lucky they are… _"Yeah... I think I know what you mean..."

She looked up at me, "Yes, you would." she muttered softly. _just how much does she know? _"Well, shall we be getting on then?"

I couldn't resist a smirk. "Now who's being 'overly cheery'?"

"Eh heh ... w-well ... shoes then?"

I shook my head in amusement. "Sure."

As I followed her out of the store, I found myself thinking about what she had just said. 

__

Hmm... I wonder what was on her mind... I mentally shook myself. _Oh well... better not worry about it too much. But still... she and Liz sure seem pretty similar... wait.. what am I thinking about Liz for?_

"I don't know your shoe size, so try these on and see if they are snug. They look like they could fit you nicely."

"Whoa..."

I swear, if I didn't know where I was I would've sworn this girl in front of me was the reincarnation of Millie Thompson herself. _I didn't know anyone else could talk that fast…_ I suddenly forgot all about the shoes she had handed me. 

"Ha! It worked! I couldn't very well have the two of us so introspective, so I resorted to 'Millie Tactics 101' ..."

"Eh heh..." _Okay, that's a little scary… _"You know, I think you and the big girl would get along great..." _That's right Vash… just back away slowly and she won't hurt you…_

"Yes, that we would indeed." she said laughing once more.

I muttered to myself as I tied the laces on the boots she had handed me "I'm not sure I can get used to this..."

"What was that? I heard you say something." _Great, now she's toying with me..._

"Nothing..." I smiled, trying to avoid the subject. "They fit fine."

"You're doing it again. Tsk tsk ..."

I quirked up one eyebrow at her. "Doing what now?"

"That cheerily disarming smile of yours ... I do believe Wolfwood commented upon it before."

__

Oh…that… I smiled slightly, "So I guess everyone here knows about that..."

"Well, not everyone per se. Just the people who've watched the anime, really."

"Oh... so you and Liz have seen it then?"

"Yes. Liz was the one who introduced me to the anime. I recently got it on DVD as a matter of fact."

"Huh..."

"Double dollar for your thoughts?" surprisingly, she actually looked... well... concerned.

I shook my head, grinning. "I was just wondering why you two would spend money on... well... a show about.. me."

She paused a minute before answering. "Well, I cannot really speak for Liz because I am not her, but I can speak for myself and say that I found myself intrigued with your character in the anime. I had a need to see you and how you survived all that you had. It was cathargic in a way to see someone like you pull through it all. In a way it gave me hope for myself, in my own life."

I gulped… "I... give people... hope?? But... but..."

My next sentence was much softer, I guess my voice just left me. "But... I've caused so much suffering..."

"That wasn't you, Vash. It wasn't. Please, believe me when I say that. You did nothing but want to save everyone, even those who don't deserve it. Please ..."

I was stunned, _That's the second time today someone I barely know has hugged me… but_ _how can they think that about me... did I really do the right thing? But... people died... can I really just move on_... **_I don't know... _**

"Do you really believe all that?"

"It's hard, I know ... I can't know what it must feel like being in your shoes, but you have to move on. It takes time and it takes love, but you can move on. Believe me on this ... it may not seem like it, but I do know of sorrow too, and the only thing you can do is take it a day at a time, but not alone, never alone ..."

I smiled, just a little, _I never would've guessed there could be such kind people in the world… _"You know... this is the second time today someone I barely know has tried to comfort me... I must be really depressing!" I finished with a slightly more mocking tone.

"Not depressing at all. You have a heart, which is more than I can say for some. You've no right to say that about yourself." she said while she tried to discreetly wipe her eyes.

I shook my head. "I wonder why Liz bought the 'anime' then..."

"Well I don't know, but you might want to ask her about it ..."

Suddenly, I sensed she was toying with me again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh ... nothing ... nothing at all." _Oh yeah, she's about as innocent as the Gung Ho Guns..._

"Right. And that friend of yours is really a modest person."

She started laughing so hard I thought she was going to fall over from lack of oxygen.

"Uh... Are you okay?"

She tried to stop laughing long enough to answer me. "I-I'm f-fine ... really ... that was just very funny. You really should take that comedy routine of yours on the road." she paid for the boots and headed out the store, motioning for me to follow. 

Suddenly, I had a real interesting idea.. I took a few long strides and caught up to her, snatching the bags away from her before she had a chance to do anything about it. 

"Oy! I can carry them just fine!"

I decided to go back to playing dumb. "Carry what?"

"Those bags that you have in your arms right now!"

__

She's got you there… but maybe if I can just… In a move I knew would be far too fast for her to catch, I tossed shoe bag into the bag with the pants, and then stacked the bag with shirts on top of that. Then, I managed to balance the whole thing on the back of one foot that had expertly crossed behind the other in a seemingly casual gesture. 

"I don't have any bags in my arms. I think you're seeing things." I smirked, crossing my arms in front of me. _Now if I can just hold this a little longer…_

"Wha-" she blinked. "Huff puff! B-but ... y-you had them ... just a s-second ago!" she shook her head. "Oh I get it ... you're using that Vash thing ... that thing you can do. Funny, ha ha, so where are the bags?"

"Bags?"

"Vash, you're not playing fair. I know you have them. Fine, if I let you carry them, will you at least make them reappear and show me that I have not gone daft?"

I laughed, and pulled the bags out from behind me. _That was getting difficult… _"Now... would you mind telling me where we're going?"

"Well, we've a half an hour before we have to meet Liz and my egocentric guest. What would you like to do? Anything in particular you'd like to see here in the mall?"

I flashed her what I thought was a wicked grin. "Donuts." _Oh mes amies… je t'aime!_

"Sounds fine by me. I was wondering when you'd ask. Liz and I even nicknamed you Donut-boy for that precise reason." she stated, smiling widely as she led the way to a nearby donut shop.

"I was kinda wondering about that... she's a really interesting person..."

"Yes she is, but that is what makes her quite lovable."

I smiled… _riiiiiiight. _"So.. you two seem really close.."

"Yes, which is quite funny because we've only known each other for three months, but it sure feels longer."

"You know... Liz seems really.. well... she seemed to trust me almost the moment she met me..." I shook my head. This had really been bothering me. Why didn't the red-haired girl ever run away? I mean… it's not like she _didn't _know who I am… what I'm capable of… "I just don't get it."

"Well, Vash, you do remember that she knows quite a bit about you from the anime and for that matter so do I. She trusts you because she knows you, even though you don't per se know her."

I smiled slightly. "It's kinda nice not having to hide everything for once..."

"Yes, it is nice."

__

Funny… I didn't think I said that last bit outloud… I simply gave her a quizzical look, thinking that maybe she had more to say.

"Oy! Not that again!" she said with a laugh. "I was just saying that you of all people must appreciate that the most."

"Yeah, I do." I said, joining in on her laughter. "So.... what were we going to do again?"

"Oy!" She smacked her head. _That looked like it hurt..._ "Not you too! You cannot be addled. I already have an addled wizard on my hands. We were going to get donuts remember." she shook her head and entered the shop.

"Oh Right! DONUTS! how could I forget?" I said, laughing at myself, though I couldn't help but think, _You forgot because you were too busy thinking about how nice it is to be accepted for who you are... for once…_ "Well... Let's GO!"

"Woah now ... patience." She pointed to the display counter. "So what'll it be?"

__

I have never in my life seen so many kinds of donuts…. 

"Well, since Donut Boy here can't seem to choose, why not some of these sprinkled ones?"

"Sp- SPRINKLES????????"

"Yes, precisely what I said: Sprinkles. How many would you like? A dozen?"

"You really mean it??"

"Now that is a real smile! Yes, I do mean it, however on the condition that I have one out of the dozen."

I pouted, _just as long as I get the rest… _"Alright...."

"Aww come one Vash, you're getting eleven donuts all for your own . Cheer up!" she said, handing me that wonderful pink cardboard box that had come to hold everything I loved about life.

"THANKS!!!" I downed them all at once. "That was great!"

"Duude, you REALLY can snarf. That's the stuff of legends, it is." she muttered, a wicked grin on her face.

"It's a gift."

"Yes, apparently so." She gave a soft laugh and then, "You know, you really are quite adorable."

"Uh.. thanks!" I replied, scratching the back of my head in nervous habit as I grinned.

She simply beamed up at me. "You're quite welcome. Oy! There's Liz and Gilderoy! Let's go!" She grabbed my arm and suddenly I found myself back in a group of four again.

"Hello you two!" she greeted them cheerily.

Liz grinned. "So... you two have fun?"

"Yes, much. You?" she asked, looking up at me.

"Yup."

"Great... so... do you want to look around some more, or should we get out of here?" Liz questioned, _I bet she already knows the answer to that one…_

"Nooo! Home! Please??" Stephie practically begged.

Liz just laughed at her. "Alright. Vash... do you need some help with those?" she asked me, noticing the bags in my hands.

I grinned and flashed the other girl meaningful look. "No... I'm fine. What about you? You really shouldn't be putting any weight on that you know." _Sigh… why didn't she have that other guy carry the bags for her, she could really hurt her hand that way…_

"Er... right...."

I sighed and grabbed the bags from her hands. _Guess I'll just have to do it myself…_

"HEY!"

I grinned, "What?"

"You..."she glared at me for a minute before sighing, defeated. "you win..."

"Soooo, can we go now???" Stephie asked.

"Yes... lets." As we began to walk out of the 'mall', Liz grinned up at me. "So.... what did you two talk about??"

I merely grinned right back at her. "Nothing… nothing at all."

A/N: ::insert evil laugh:: So…. what did you think? Enough Vash for you? Or did I not do him justice? Please, please, **please** R&R for me… as I said before this chapter was **very** difficult as I've never tried to do anything quite like it…. So flame me for all I care… because at this point all criticism is greatly appreciated!


	9. Mmmmm Orange Chicken

A/N: ::bows low:: I am extremely sorry for the long wait on this chapter, and I wouldn't blame any of you if I got flames about that this time 'round. But unfortunately, the Internet connection at my house has been down for about a month now, and even more unfortunate, is the fact that it looks like it will continue to be down for at least another week. However, that will not affect my writing, and I hope to be able to update more frequently now that I'll access to the school library once more. That said… on with the newest chapter. Enjoy! ('thank you's at the bottom)

Disclaimer: Let's see now… I don't own TV dinners, I don't own South Park, I don't own Charmed, I don't own the Spanish Inquisition (though I hear they're hiring… hmmm… always have like those nice red uniforms…), I don't own Monty Python (wish I did…), I don't own the Jungle Cruise (which can grow up to be 200 feet in length, and jump over 25 feet… ooooooooo! Hairless Monkeys!), and I'd probably have to cause myself physical harm if I owned Trading Spaces. I _do_ however, own some stale cheese… So if you're into that kind of dairy product, feel free to sue me for it.

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 8**

Sooner than I expected, I found myself fumbling for my keys outside my front door. Vash and I had spent the better part of the day at the mall, and I hated to admit it, but I was exhausted. _What a day… and I can hardly believe that Vash **still** wanted that tour of the mall I promised him… so tired…_

As soon as I managed to get the door open, I realized just how welcoming my couch looked at that moment. I stumbled over and somehow managed to get my purse off my shoulder just before I fell forward, giving in to gravity and happily assuring myself that lovely soft couch cushions would break my fall.

Unfortunately, it would seem that those plans were thwarted…

"Er… Vash? You can… drop me. It's okay… I kinda wanted to fall on the couch…." I muttered, not entirely displeased at the fact that I was suspended somewhere between where I had previously been standing and the couch that I so desperately wanted to collapse on. _Hey, at least he worried enough to catch you… _

"Oh! Sorry!" he replied. However, instead of just letting me continue my rapid descent towards the couch as I had hoped, I suddenly found myself being swept up into the air and ever so gently being laid down onto the soft cushions.

"Thanks…" I muttered, too tired to really care how I got to the couch, so long as I was there. I could just feel Vash's inquisitive look, but I decided I would just have to deal with it later, as I was slowly beginning to slip into a peacefully warm slumber… when my stomach caught up with me and made other plans.

__

So hungry… I groaned and shoved myself off the couch. Sleep would just have to wait, first, food.

"Hey, you alright?" came Vash's voice from somewhere beside me as I stumbled into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm fine. And I'll be even better once I eat something. I don't know about you, but I'm starved!" I said flashing him a quick grin. "So… what'll it be, hmmm?" I muttered as I began to paw through my fridge. _No, we had TV dinners last night… ugh, I do **not** want anything made from stale cheese… who put that there anyway? _I frowned, nothing seemed edible.

With a heavy sigh, I closed the fridge, leaning against the counter. Closing my eyes, I took mental stock of all the food in the house, and decided I definitely did not feel like cooking.

"What's wrong?"

Opening one eye, I found a slightly concerned gunman staring me in the face. I sighed. "Nothing really, I just don't feel like cooking, and I don't find anything 'pre-made' particularly appetizing at the moment… damn my picky tastes."

Vash merely laughed at me. "If you want, I could make something."

I raised one eyebrow, this was interesting. Here I have Gunsmoke's most feared and wanted man, in my kitchen, and he's offering to cook me dinner. _Okay… is he one of the four signs of the apocalypse, or was that horsemen? Wait… does he even know how to cook?_ I wondered, skeptical.

Vash frowned at my expression, "Hey! I can cook you know! What do you think I did when I was hungry and in the middle of some desert? Pull out one of those 'phones' you've got here and tell someone to bring me something from the nearest bar?"

He did have a point, I mean, he probably learned _something_ living on his own for all those years. Still… "Wait a minute…. THAT'S IT!" I grinned and ran for the phone, my mind finally comprehending his last sentence.

Vash scratched his head in puzzlement, "What's it?"

I flashed him a happy smile as I dialed one of my favorite little restaurants, "Take out."

~~~*~~~

"What do you call this again?"

"Orange chicken. And that, is chow mien." I said pointing at the newly arrived food.

He looked a bit confused, apparently Rem had neglected to school him in the finer points of delivery. "And that is…"

"Beef and broccoli, and those are egg rolls." 

He looked a bit overwhelmed, but nodded. "And this stuff in the bottle?"

"That's Coke, Vash. You drink it." I replied, rolling my eyes.

He looked interested, and unscrewed the cap to the coke bottle, smiling widely at the familiar "fisssshhhh" sound as the carbonated gases escaped the bottle. "Is it anything like beer?"

I laughed, "No… it's non-alcoholic. But it's got enough sugar in it to give you a buzz anyway."

He looked slightly disappointed, but interested nonetheless. Still chuckling, I took the opened two-liter from him and poured us a couple of glasses. Then I grabbed two plates from the cupboard and filled both plates with portions of my favorite kinds of Americanized Chinese food. "There. Eat." I told him, heading for the living room.

Picking up his plate, he quickly followed me and sat down on the couch just as I began to channel surf for something interesting to watch while we ate. "Uh, hey… just how do you eat this stuff?" he questioned.

I shook my head amused, "Sometimes I forget you don't know everything yet. Here," I picked up my chopsticks and positioned them quickly between my fingers, using them to pluck a piece of orange chicken from my plate. "Hold them like this…. and then you sort of pinch them together this way to grab the food and then…" I demonstrated my putting the chicken in my mouth and savoring the wonderful taste. "Voila."

Carefully, Vash attempted what I had just shown him, but after several tries I gave up trying to teach him the finer points of chopsticks and handed him a fork. "I'm assuming you know how to use this?" I said mockingly.

He glared at me and speared a stalk of broccoli in response. "I'll take that as a yes then." I said with a laugh.

"So… you sure you can eat this stuff?" Vash muttered, eyeing the orange chicken.

"Yes, trust me. It's good." Since Vash still looked a bit wary, I decided to show him just how safe it was by eating a bit of everything all at once. "'ee? Ish per'eckee 'afe." I said through a mouthful of food.

"What language was that??"

I finished it off with a mouthful of Coke to wash it down. "It's called talking with your mouth full of food needle noggin'. I said, 'it's perfectly safe'. Just try it."

Gingerly, Vash stuck a piece of orange chicken with his fork and tasted it, but not before shooting me a look that clearly meant, "this'd better not be poison." 

"Hey! This is pretty good!" He exclaimed, giving me that wide, dopey grin of his. "Not as good as donuts, but definitely better than a salmon sandwich!" he finished, gulping down the rest of the food on his plate and reaching for seconds from the various takeout boxes.

I laughed at the spectacle before me, _salmon sandwiches? Poor boy, Gunsmoke doesn't sound like it has the best catering._ I shook my head, still trying to find something decent to watch. _Hmmmm, don't think he'd like "South Park"… way too violent. No, not "Charmed"… that'd go right over his head. "Trading Spaces"?? Good lord no! _"Feh…" I muttered disgustedly as I turned off the TV and tossed the remote to the side. "Well, there's nothing worth watching on TV I guess."

He swallowed his fourth glass of Coke. "Do you always watch 'TV' when you eat?"

"No… not when my parents are home. But I find it makes for good company when you're home alone." I replied, grabbing more orange chicken for myself.

"You live with your parents?" he asked, a bit perplexed.

"So? I'm a starving college freshman who doesn't even have a real job yet. I really don't think that living solo is in the cards just yet." I retorted. 

"That's not what I meant. I just thought you lived alone since I've been here for two days now and the only people I've met are you, your friend, and that tall guy she hangs out with." Vash replied innocently, counting off all the people he knew this world on one hand.

__

He's got a point there… "Oh, right. Well, they're on vacation for the next few weeks, so I've got the house to myself. Which is great because I really don't know how I'd explain to them that my favorite blonde haired, wanted outlaw 'magically' appeared in my closet one day. I mean, what would I say? 'Hi Mom, who's this? Oh… just some guy who showed up in my closet. How'd he get there? Don't know, but is it okay if he stays here for awhile? Yes I know he's got a gun…'" I sighed. "It'd just be a bit too weird for them to take I think."

Vash nodded solemnly, and for once stopped his Chinese food frenzy. He looked suddenly, dejected, and it pained me to see him that way. "Hey! It's not like it's your fault! I mean, you didn't wake up one morning and say 'hey, I think I'd like to show up in some girl's closet on Earth and hang out there for awhile'. Right?"

He laughed, "Well actually, I've always thought it'd be kinda nice to live on Earth, but I never thought I'd go back in time and actually see it. And I definitely didn't think I'd get here through someone's closet!"

I grinned, "See? It's really kind of funny when you think about it. You should really learn to act like yourself a little more while you're here, Vash." I said as I stood and gathered up the trash left over from our meal. "No one's going to chase you, so there's really no need for you to hide behind all those masks you wear is there?" I left him no chance to answer as I moved into the kitchen to toss out the trash and clean up a bit.

~~~*~~~

Later that night, after ordering _even more _Chinese food and watching a random movie I pulled from my collection, I realized that I had neglected to ever fetch Vash blankets for the chair he was about to go to sleep in once more. _Liz no baka! Some hostess you are!_ With an annoyed growl I headed for the hall closet to get Vash a blanket.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" came mocking voice from behind me.

"Yes, _mother_… but I just realized that you've been sleeping in that chair of mine for the last two nights without so much as pillow." I retorted, reaching for a nice warm fleece blanket on the top shelf.

Vash pouted mockingly and whined, "Do you really think I look like your mother? Eesh."

"Hey! You've never met my mother! She's prettier than you and-… why am I having this argument?"

He merely shrugged and grinned amusedly. "You started it."

"Real mature, donut-boy. Here…" I said, handing him the blanket and pillow I had just fetched. "Those should make it easier to sleep in that old chair of mine."

"Thanks." He grinned, "Oh… and I was thinking, about what you said before…"

__

Ummmmm… is he talking about when I told him that nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition and their chief weapon is surprise, and fear. I mean their two chief weapons are- wait, no…. that's an episode of Monty Python…

"I think you might be right." came Vash's voice to once again break my train of thought.

"Come again?" I asked, raising one eyebrow in question.

The great and mighty gunman suddenly seemed to be very nervous, and held one hand behind his head in a habitual way. "Um… what I mean is… that thing you said before… that I don't have to hide here? I was thinking that you're right, since from what you and your friend have told me, there really isn't any way for me to be a danger to others here."

I smiled, Vash finally seemed to get it. "Exactly. So you can drop the over-done cheery bit, alright? Learn to be yourself for once… you'd be surprised at how many people will like you. Besides, maybe that's why you wound up here, to learn how to quit protecting the entire human race every second of every day."

He smiled, only slightly, and looked deep in thought for a moment. "Well… I guess it's a good theory…"

"And the only one we've got at the moment…" I chuckled softly. "You really are too serious." I added with a yawn. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm kinda beat after that day we had, so… 'night Vash." I said, curling up under the covers and finally allowing myself to submit to the sleep I longed for.

"Night Liz."

I bolted upright in an instant, staring at him in shock and amused amazement.

"What??" Vash cried, obviously startled by my action.

I smiled, finally getting a hold of myself. "Nothing… you're learning is all."

Vash looked at me as though I was insane, of course, considering the situation he probably wasn't all that far off in his assumption. I shook my head, "I'll explain later… 'night Vash."

He shrugged, then yawned. "Night Liz."

__

In the entire anime, not once have I heard him use Meryl or Millie's names. I shook my head in wonder. _And he's supposed to have known them for what… three, four years by the end of the series? And yet two **days** after having met me, and he uses my name as casually as though he's known me for years…_

Well what do you know… he really is learning something…

~~~*~~~

A/N: ::sighs relieved:: Man… I thought I'd never finish that chapter! ::rurouni grin:: So???? R/R please! It's what I live for!

Thestral: ::rurouni grin:: Merci beaucoup. So… qu'est-ce que tu pense? ::laughs:: Well… here's hoping my French isn't as rusty as I think it is, ne?

doomsdaybringer: ::laughs:: Yeah, probably. I mean, I seem to recall him doing something similar when he first met Millie, right? ::frowns:: Maybe I'm hallucinating… Thanks for the review!

Koya Maki: Ooooo…. I don't know why either but it does sound cute, just as long as you don't put him in shorts… And thanks for the review!

Sakura Phoenix: 1) YAY! And I apologize for not updating as fast as I wanted to… so we're even! 

2)Double YAY! Email me when it is uploaded so I can read it.

::rurouni grin:: Feh… I don't even speak Spanish so I can't tell you if you used that right, but YAY! Thanks for reviewing!

theWolf24: dunno if I emailed you about this before, but no you wouldn't! We don't mind if you write something like it! Really! Go 'head! ^____^x And yesh! Donut-boy! I we came up with it randomly one day after watching an episode or two. Thanks for the review!

"Tak": ::blushes:: Sessha does not deserve such praise… ::laughs:: But bad grammar can be fun! Thanks!

DarkFireKitsune: Thanks, and I tried to update sooner! Really I did!

Pudding333: But it's such a great username anyway, even if it wasn't necessarily intended to be Millie related! ^_^x And thanks! Here's hoping I'll be able to do the next chapter sooner than this last one!

Luna-Kitsune-Blu: ::hands you sakabatou to whack comp with:: Will this help? ::laughs:: Hooray! A bodyguard! ::claps hands gleefully:: I'm glad you liked it, and fortunately for me… no flames! ::rurouni grin:: 

LifelongStampedeK: Thanks!

FluffysBijin05: Thank you very much, and you're welcome of course! ::rurouni grin:: 

Lady Venom2: Yes, it was kinda hard…. ::laughs:: Worried? Now why would you be worried? And if you want more of her lifestyle, try reading her fic, "The Student, The Wizard, and The Closet" Thanks for the review!

dragonair: Honestly, I don't know how I find time to write them… they just sort of crowd my head and demand to be written, so I do. ::rurouni grin:: And let's see…. to be perfectly honest, I found out about RK randomly by watching Toonami when they were still airing episodes. I just sort of fell in love with it, so I started to read the manga online and collect the DVDs. And Trigun… well, same thing, only I saw it on Adult Swim. And fav. character? Hmmmm….I think I have to go with my beloved rurouni. Though I must admit, Kaoru-chan and rooster head tie at a close second. Thanks for the review!

Saberpilot: ::claps:: YAY! I was afraid someone would think that little bit in the dressing room was too much, so I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!

Aaringo: YAY! I always love getting reviews from you! Exactly! I'm glad you get the fact that he's not always happy-cheery person. ^__________^x ::sheepish look:: And yeah… I've never even read the manga… simply because I can't find it in English anywhere, nor can I find a decent online translation! ::pouts:: But I have seen the entire series four times… I think… maybe more… ::shrugs, then giggles:: And I don't know about Stephie… you'd have to ask her yourself… but hmmmmmmm…. maybe I'll ask her! ::laughs:: Ahhhh, for a Stephie chapter, you'll have to read her fic, "the Student, the Wizard, and the Closet" And I do plan on alternating POVs every once in a while, so don't worry! ::rurouni grin::

AHHHHH! ::falls over anime style:: I know! I know! But I can't tell you until "Vash and I" figure out how he got in my closet and stuff, since we don't know what's happening there ourselves. Don't hurt me! ::runs and hides behind Vash:: Well, okay… so that was a bit much but still! ::giggles:: Thanks for the reviews! 


	10. Where IS That Blasted Needle Noggin?

****

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Thestral1 and I have discovered that several people like this fanfic premise (created entirely by Thestral1) so much, that they have approached both of us with ideas for their own fics. As such, we've created both Livejournal and Greatest Journal communities for such fics. So… if you'd like to try your hand at writing your very own "closet fic", please, simply give Thestral1 credit, and if you can, join one or both of our communties. The links for each can be found in Scarlet Rurouni's author profile.

Thank you.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, except this stuffed animal I've had since I was 3… at least I'm pretty sure I own it…

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 9**

I awoke the next morning to the sound of my alarm buzzing, drowning out the last remnants of the happy little dream I had been having. With an enormous yawn, I slammed a hand down on top of the snooze button, fully intending to catch a few more winks of sleep, when I remembered why I was getting up so early on a Monday before school.

With a wicked grin I glanced over at the chair Vash had spent the last two nights sleeping in. Yup, empty… as usual… As quietly as I could, I hopped out of bed and donned my favorite fuzzie fleece robe, fully intent on figuring out what that blasted needle noggin' was doing out of bed so early every morning.

Tiptoeing out my door and down the hall, I peeked into the dining room, realizing that I truly had no idea where I'd find the notorious gunman. Huh… wonder if this is what Meryl and Millie felt like… nah… I don't have an entire planet to search! Unfortunately, he wasn't in the dining room. And since the kitchen was clearly visible from my vantage point in the hallway, I knew he could not be there. Hmmm… he can't be in my parents room, no one in their right mind would want to go there… AH HA! As stealthily as I could I snuck down the hall to the entrance to the living room, that being the only place in the house where he could possibly be. Deciding that I wanted to pay him back for those two early morning "surprises" he had graciously bestowed on me, I opted for the "jump out from out of nowhere and scare the pants off him" approach.

"MORNING!" I bellowed just as I pounced out of my hiding place, hoping that I'd make the poor boy fall flat on his face out of shock. "Oro?... Where is he??" I whined, my plans thwarted. _Wait…. no…. he couldn't be…_

Quickly, I turned and quietly raced to the only room left unchecked in the house, my brother's old room. Stripped of everything within it and comepletely vacant now that my brother had moved out, I had vitually forgotten it's existence. Slowly I opened the door, and had to stifle a laugh.

There, sitting in the middle of the concrete floor, was Vash the Stampede, trying to meditate. And he was failing, miserably. He would close his eyes for about a second, and then suddenly open them again at the sound of a fly buzzing throughout the room. After a minute or two, he stood up, and promptly tried to "shoo!" the fly out of the room through the back door. I couldn't help it, I had to laugh.

Vash froze mid-step, "Uh oh…"

"Having trouble, Donut-boy?" I said, barely able to hide my mirth.

"Eh heh.. well you see.. I uh…"

"Save it." I grinned. "_' My name is Vash the Stampede. I have been a hunter of peace, chasing the elusive mayfly known as love for many many moons now. There is no rest for me in my search of peace. I meditate diligently every morning, the subjects are life and love. I quit after three seconds.'_ I should have suspected this was where you ran off too every morning."

Vash pouted, "I could get a lot farther than three minutes without this damn fly in here…"

"Oh really?" I questioned playfully, "Then why don't you go sit in my room where there are no flies and see just how far you get?"

He eyed me warily, "I don't like the way you said that…"

I flashed him a wicked grin, "What… it's not like I'm _dangerous_ or anything…"

He raised one eyebrow skeptically, "You know, if it were anyone else, I might believe you."

"What?" I asked as innocently as I could, "Alright fine… so I was going to time you to see if you really could get past three seconds. It's not like I was going to try and steal your gun or anything." 

"You already have." he retorted with an expression halfway between a grin and a smirk.

"Oh yeah… er… well… How about some breakfast??" I said loudly, trying to change the subject.

Vash simply laughed at me. "Alright… but we're getting donuts."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, sure… but we've got to make it quick. I've got school…" _And you've got a full day of babysitting Lockhart ahead of you, _I added mentally.

Hopefully, the donuts would make up for the fact that I wasn't going to tell him he'd be spending the day at Stephie's with Lockhart. Well… not until we got to Stephie's house anyway…

~~~*~~~

A/N: Sorry it's so short, but really it's only a prequel for the next chapter. I promise they'll be lots more next chapter! R/R please!

Thestral: ::rurouni grin:: Whaddaya think?

Lady Venom2: I'm glad you think so! I had fun writing that last chapter, so I hope you like this one too!

Luna-Kitsune-Blu: Thanks! And I already told you how much I loved your review, right? ^_^x In case I didn't, it was great! It made my day, so thanks again!

Tak- Noooo! No head imploding! That's bad! Quick! Go read more fics until I can update again! ::hands you Vash plushie to ease the pain:: ^_^x

Pudding333- Thank you! I love it when people like what I write! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

"Saku"- Oro?? No orange chicken! Holy cripe! Find a panda express now! ::faints out of shock:: Eh heh… okay well… yeah… Thanks for reviewing!

Wolfwoodsgrl28- Yes! I don't know if I told you this before, but by all means go ahead! OH! And Refer to the link at the top of this fic if you would please!


	11. Must Focus On Classes

A/N: ::deep bow:: Alright. I just know you're all going to kill me for taking so dang long, but I was attacked with writer's block, and it turned out to be a very formidable foe this time. So yar, new chapter! WOOT! And I know, it's short, but it's really only a prequel! Next one should be out either later today or tomorrow! Thanks at bottom of page!

Disclaimer: Okay… how many times do I really need to say that I own nothing??

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 10**

With a yawn, I walked up to Stephie's front door. It was far too early in the morning for me, though I knew that had we stayed home any later I would be late to class. _Ruddy early morning classes... I shall smite thee!!!_ Vash of course, had already been awake long before I even cursed my alarm clock, being the morning person that he is. Stopping just on the door step, I turned to him, slightly worried about leaving him there all alone with no one but Lockhart for company. "Vash... you know, you don't really need to do this. I'm sure we could figure something else out..."

He looked at me with that silly quizzical smirk of his, "Figure something else out? Like what?"

"Er..." _Think Liz! Think!_ I grinned wickedly, "We could lock him up in the closet..."

Vash looked a little frightened by my semi-violent tendencies, laughing nervously. "Eh heh... I don't think he'd like that very much. And I don't mind so much..." he trailed off.

__

Right. "Fine, you keep up your delusions, but just try and remember that you can just be yourself here Vash." I said, always trying to get him to drop his mask. Resisting the urge to glomp the poor gunslinger, I settled for a wink instead, "Besides, you do realize that by doing this I'll be forced to buy you a huge box of donuts."

__

Swear to Kami, I will never get tired of seeing that expression on his face. I told myself as I watched his face light up like a Christmas tree. "REALLY?? Alright!" I laughed heartily, "Yes baka. Shall we go in now then?"

He grinned that goofy grin of his, "Sure! The sooner you leave, the sooner I get donuts!"

I laughed, "I feel so loved." I retorted teasingly as I knocked on the door. Not a moment after, the door swung open to reveal Stephie's smiling visage.

"Maegovannen Liz and Vash!" she said by way of greeting. I smirked and suppressed a laugh as Vash and I followed her inside.

With a warm smile, she asked, "I know we're in a hurry and all, but would you or Vash like something to drink?"

I grinned, _always playing hostess... _"No... I'm fine." I turned to Vash, "What about you?"

He looked pensive for a moment, _probably wishing for a nice bottle of Wild Turkey, _but he soon smiled. "No thanks!"

"All right. Then I suppose we'll be off now. See that you two mind yourselves here. Do try and keep out of trouble." Stephie said, most likely more for Lockhart's benefit than Vash's. Though apparently Vash missed that subtle meaning, as he nodded, obviously thinking it was meant for him as well.

__

Silly boy, **you're **not the one we're worried about... I thought, shooting Vash a look meant to imply _"THANK YOU!"_

"We'll be back this afternoon.... it'll be sooner than you think!" I told him, hoping all the while that I'd be able to get through the day without worrying too much. _That's right Liz, focus on classes._

"Exactly so!" Stephie chimed in, "Well good day then. We'll return soon."

With a smile and a wave, I followed my friend out the door and to the bus stop, a long day of classes looming up ahead, though that was the last thing on my mind...

~~~*~~~

A/N: YAY! Hope you liked it! R/R please??

Thestral: ::BIG grin:: Dude. Took me long enough, ne?

Blu: I don't need funny reviews! ::giggles:: Though picturing baka tori-atama running for the hills IS pretty funny! ::snickers::

Saberpilot: ::grins:: I dunno what he'll do next… we'll just have to wait and see, ne?

greeneydgrl74: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!

Sakura and Selena: ::grins:: YAY for you!!! Hope you liked this chapter!

PT-chan: Hope you enjoyed this one! And I hope Wilson is feeling better! ::winks::

FluffysBijin05: Mmmmm… chinese food! ::grins::

Kagome-Angel2000: ::grins:: Hope you liked this chapter and I'm glad you like my little fic!

Aaringo: ::grins:: HOORAY for chills! Exactly what I was trying to do! And you do realize that your reviews are some of the best ones I get right? ::smiles:: Anyway, lemme know what you thought of this one!

Sailor-Armitage: ::grins::

Pudding333: Hope you can forgive me for making you wait so long!


	12. Story Time!

A/N: I think I should just shut up and let you get to the story… yea… that'd be good. ::grin::

Disclaimer: I own my pants. That's about it. And trust me, you don't want my pants.

****

The Student, the Typhoon, and the Closet

**Chapter 11**

I smiled at the girls as they left, shutting the door and sighing just a little. now what am I supposed to do all day?

"So..." I nearly jumped in surprise, turning around kinda quickly. Oh right, what's-her-name's friend is here, isn't he? I flashed him my best grin to cover my forgetfulness. "Er.... hi!" What was his name again? I think Liz called him 'Lockhart'...

Lockhart smiled what looked like a winning smile that was used too often. "Hello..." he started, probably wondering what to say next. "Do you know about muggle living?"

What the hell's a 'muggle'?? "'Muggles'?" I asked, not really knowing what to say to that. And I thought I came from another planet...

"Muggles, as in non-wizard folk. Obviously don't because if you did you'd know what Muggles are..." he stated with a kind of snobbish tone, sitting down on the sofa-thing.

I tried not to laugh at the obviously confused guy. "You mean people, as in humans? Like Liz and.... Stephie?" I managed to ask seriously.

"Yes, like them... but wait... then if you're not considering yourself with their lot, then what are you if I may ask?" 

Oh crap... "Eh heh... er...." I looked around, maybe trying to find a way to escape, or maybe I thought I'd find a way to answer his question by looking at the walls that suddenly seemed a lot closer together than they had a second ago. Whatever I was looking for, I suddenly had one of those... what do you 'em? Oh yea, epiphanies. "Wait a minute.... where are you from?"

"I'm from a wizarding section of London, though my home, if you can call it that, has been in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

Okay, never heard of any of those places before... Well, minus London... I thought, a bit more reassured. Still, all those years of being chased around a damn planet have made me kinda skeptical. "So... you live on Earth too, right?"

"Yes of course!" he said, looking like he was half confused and half offended.

Still, I sighed relieved. "Alright then... sorry... I guess I'm just not used to it yet..."

"Not used to what? To being here?"

I sighed again, been doing that a lot lately, and sat down. That and... "That and being able to trust everyone not to kill me." I said with a sort of shrug, I had gotten use to saying that sort of thing by now.

"Not to kill you? Merlin's beard, where are you from that you can't trust people not to kill you???" he exclaimed, actually sounding kind of concerned.

I laughed a little. "It's not their fault... most of them think I killed a bunch of people..." I frowned a little, but then I remembered to add, "Not that I did though! Really!"

"Why would they think that? If I may ask?"

I froze for a split second, not really wanting to tell him... certain things about my past. But then I put my usual smile back in place. "Er.... dunno why!" I told him, glancing over the kitchen. "Man, I'm hungry! I wonder if they've got any donuts here...." I said, maybe a little louder than I needed to, as I shot out of my seat and ran to the kitchen.

Once I was safely inside and away from all what's-his-name's questions, I searched around the kitchen for donuts, and didn't find any. "Damn... guess I'll have to make something...." I muttered, eyeing the cabinets and going over to the fridge, moving stuff around, trying to find something interesting. "Oh hey! Eggs!" I grinned, grabbing the funny shaped paper carton along with a pan I found earlier, figuring that scrambled eggs would be a good breakfast. Okay... so I already had breakfast. Who cares?

Looking back at the other room, I figured it'd be kinda rude not to share. "HEY! Do you want any of this?" I yelled, already adding an extra serving to the eggs already in the pan.

"Any of what, praytell?"

I grinned, "I asked..." I muttered to myself. Of course, I figured he had to be hungry, so I just pulled out two plates anyway. "Guess you don't want any...." I called.

He stood up and walked over to where I was in the kitchen, suddenly looking like he saw something familiar. "Ah! Then yes, I would indeed like some!"

I grinned a happy grin, and turn around to hand Lockhart a plateful of eggs. "Figured you would." I said, walking past him to the table and beginning to... 'snarf'. At least I think that's what Liz said it was... 

It was good, but something was missing. I frowned a little, trying to think when it hit me, "KETCHUP!" I jumped up from the table and raced into the kitchen, grabbing the bottle of ketchup I had found in the fridge went back to the table to drench my eggs in it.

"Want some?" I said, holding the bottle out to Lockhart.

He looked at me kind of like he thought I did something funny, but took the bottle and put a little on his plate. "Thank you."

I grinned and practically inhaled what I had left, finishing a split second after Lockhart. Then I remembered what Liz had said about him not really being able to do much for himself. So, I stood up, grabbed his plate out of his hands, and headed for the kitchen to wash them, humming Rem's song as I washed.

"I say! I was going to do that!" he huffed.

I laughed a little at him. "Do you even know how to do the dishes?"

"I do, too! Well... sort of... All right, I don't, but I wanted to try!"

I shook my head, how has this guy lasted this long? "Alright... here..." I waved him over, my hands already soapy from the water.

He grinned a little and came over, picking up a sponge, catching on quickly.

I smiled at his progress, and continued to hum softly out of habit while I dried.

"What's that you're humming?" 

"It's a song I learned when I was a kid... I've never really been able to get it out of my head..." I said, not sure if I was talking to him or myself.

"Where did you learn it from?"

"Um... a friend of mine..." Rem... what do I call you? Mom? Or something else...

"Really now? Someone from where you live I can only assume?"

I grinned, "You could say that..." Though she was kind from here too...

He finished the last dish and dried his hands. "Does this friend have a name?" he asked sounding kind of curious.

"Rem."

"A simple but nice name. You must miss Rem." he said, giving my a kind expression.

I smiled and shook my head. "Yeah.... but not as much as before..."

He nodded, but then shook his head at... something. "So..." he started, giving me a grin that said, "what now?"

"Er.... eh heh..." I laughed a little at scratched my head, trying to think of something to do.

"Why don't we..." he thought for a minute, "well we could... hmm..."

Which is when the phone rang.

When I herd it go off, I figured if Lockhart would just keep thinking for a minute or two then maybe I could just-

"Oy, where are you going?"

I flashed him a grin. "Er... eh heh... GOTTA GO!" I cried, racing for the phone and diving for it when it was just within reach. _Maybe it'll be Liz calling…_

'Course, Lockhart seemed kinda like he wanted to answer it too, what with the way he ran ofter me. "OY! Stephie's house and therefore as her next in, well whatever, I get to answer it!!"

But I always have been pretty fast, long legs I guess. "Hello??" 

"_Vash? You sound out of breath... what happened? Did he do something??_"

I laughed nervously, glancing over the chairs we knocked over on our way to the phone. "No! Everything's fine! Did you want to talk to him?" _No one ever calls me… oh well._

"_Yes, that would be nice. Thank you Vash._"

I looked over at him and offered the reciver, right after I realized I wasn't sure he'd know how to use it. "Uh... here."

He grinned and took it from me, putting it up his ear the wrong way at first. I figured he probably wouldn't want me to correct him… plus it was kinda fun to watch. But he got it the right way after a minute or two. "Hello?"

He laughed kinda like I had a minute before at something Liz's friend said, also looking over at the chairs we had shoved out of the way. _We'd better pick those up at some point…_ "Yes, everything's fine! Will you be home soon? Are you done with school? Or was it work?"

"Oh... all right." I knew I shouldn't be listening. But it wasn't like I had anything else to do, and he was talking kinda loud… almost like he thought you had to yell to be heard on the other end.

He smiled something and said, Yes, of course. Good day." Then he pushed one of the buttons, trying to hang it up, but I don't think he hit the right one because he kept pushing buttons. I smirked and tried to hide my laughter. 

He just set the phone down calmly. "Laugh if you will, but I am learning more than I ever thought I would about muggle living."

I shrugged and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bag of cookies I'd found earlier and went to sit on the couch. "Why do you keep calling them 'Muggles'?" I asked, offering the opened bag of chocolate chip cookies.

Taking one, he said, "Oh... that is our term for non-wizarding folk. Like we have the term for witch and wizard and squib."

I chewed thoughtfully on a cookie, half wishing it was a donut. "Wizard.... wizard... OH! They're those people that use that stuff...." I thought for a minute more, "MAGIC! That's right!" I grinned at him, "Rem used to tell us... er... oh yeah! Fairy tales about people like them."

"We're not just fairy tales! We're real just as muggles are." he huffed, sounding kinda angry.

I put up my hands in surrender. "Hey now... I didn't mean anything by it! I just haven't heard of any of you being real!" I chuckled a bit. "I mean, I wouldn't get all upset if you said you'd never heard of me before!" _Actually... it'd be a relief!_

"But the thing is I don't know what you are so I can't say if I've heard of you or not."

I shook my head, remembering what Liz had told me before she went to class.

__

~*~

__

"Fine, you keep up your delusions, but just try and remember that you can just be yourself here Vash."

~*~

__

Right. Be myself. "It's not what I am... It's who I am. 'Vash the Stampede'... wanted dead or alive for the murder of Count Lebenon Vasquez, guilty of class G property damage... blah blah blah... 60 billion double dollar bounty." I recited it all by heart, I'd gotten used to hearing it everywhere I went so it was kinda stuck in my head. I sighed, "It's kinda depressing to list it all."

Lockhart looked a little confused. "B-but..."

"Hm?"

"B-but that doesn't make sense... why would they think you did all that?"

I sighed heavily, trying to think of the best way of a putting it without scaring the poor guy out of his mind. "Becasue I was there when it happened... every single time..."

He nodded. "I see..." He looked at me for a minute, like he was seeing me for the first time. "So that's why you said everyone was out to get you where you came from?"

"Yeah... funny thing is... most of them don't even believe it's me!" I laughed a little, "They've never believe a strange guy like me could be the terrible 'Vash the Stampede'... " I laughed again, it was kinda funny if I thought about it. "I guess they just can't picture a scrawny guy like me blowing up a town..."

"I can't imagine it either..." he said, grinning a little.

I glanced out the window, suddenly in one of my rare serious moods. "I could if I wanted to..." I closed my eyes and smiled. "But she wouldn't like that."

"She? You mean Rem?"

I grinned. "Yup."

He smiled. "I see."

"So what about you?" I asked, grinning mischeivously. 

He just looked kinda confused. "What about me what?"

I grinned, "Hey.. I'm not going to be the only one telling stories here."

"Stories... b-but..."

I laughed, this guy sure did act funny when he was confused and flustered. "Geez! You'd think YOU were the wanted outlaw here from the way you're acting!"

"Well... I'm no wanted outlaw... but my own story is not tea and cakes..." he replied, looking sort of… sheepish.

I laughed again, only this time I was aiming to lighten the poor guy's mood. "Look pal, unless you've got an entire planet full of people who want to kill you, I really don't think there's anything you could do worse than something I've already done." I said with a friendly grin.

He sighed, "Well... I... er that is to say... I'm a fraud. Completely egocentric really. I took credit for others work and modified their memories so they wouldn't contradict me... I er... well... I'm a complete sham and everyone detests me because of it and my egocentricity and cowardice nearly lead to the death of three students."

With another sigh, this one a little more sad than before, he continued. "That's why I was in St. Mungo's... my own charm backfired on me and I lost my memory, and I still haven't gotten it all back... just bits and peices from reading Stephie's books and all..."

I blinked, _wasn't expecting that.._ I looked at him, trying to judge for myself what kind of person this guy really was. _I guess it's the least I can do for him… he doesn't seem to hate me for my past yet anyway… _I shrugged. "You made mistakes. So does everyone else, and at least those students you mentioned are all still alive..." _Legato... _"As long as you realize your mistake and learn from it, there's no reason why you can't become a better person now." I grinned what Liz had once called my "trademark grin". "Besides... this world is made of..." I sat up straight, making sure I used the old standby gestures. "Love and Peace!"

He laughed, "So you don't despise me for all that? You don't think less of me?"

I shook my head, "Do you think less of me because I'm a wanted man?"

"Well you're guiltless, you never did any of those things... I however and guilty of all my mistakes and it's not the same..."

I sighed heavily and fell back against the sofa. _Man this guy is dense!_ "You don't get it do you? I'm not guiltless either. Just because I haven't done _everything_ I'm wanted for doesn't mean I haven't done _some_ of it. Yeah, it was an accident" _for the most part_... "but all the same, I'm not guilt-free either. But does that make me seem like a horrible person to you?"

He looked down, "Well no... Though you have an instant plus because you were never egocentric." he said, adding a grin of his own. 

"Then why do you expect me to think less of you?" I luaghed again, "You really shouldn't put yourself down like that! It's not healthy!"

"It's ironic really... puffing oneself up so much is unhealthy and putting oneself down so much is unhealthy... I'm sure there's a balance there somewhere... "

"Of course there is! And it's called Love and Peace!"

He laughed a little, "Love and Peace, eh?"

"Yes! Love and Peace! It's right up there with donuts!"

"Whatever you say, Vash."

****

RING! The phone went off again. I jumped up, ready to run after it and grab it, but I sat back down when a thought hit me… _It's not going to be for me anyway._

Lockhart still made a mad dash for it, picking it up and hitting a bunch of the buttons before finally finding the right one. "Hello??" he said, sort of excited into the reciever.

A few seconds later I heard him say "Yes, it's me! I learned to answer the phone! I suppose you'll be calling for Vash though?" _Me?? Who the heck would call me?_

He looked kinda upset when he held out the phone for me. "It's for you, Vash!"

I jumped up and grabbed the phone from him as quick as I could. _It's not everday I get a phone call… _"Hello??

__

"Vash?"

"LIZ! Areyoudonewithclassesandcallingtoaskwhatkindofdonutstobring? Huh? Are you??" I asked her all in one breath, _Milly's not the only one who can do that._

I heard her laugh, _"No.... maybe you should breathe next time you say that."_

"Aw..."

__

"I was just calling to see how you two were doing. Lockhart behaving?" She chuckled a little.

I glanced over at Lockhart. "Yup. We were trading stories."

__

"Were you now? That's nice. So... everything's okay then?"

"Of course!" _What's she worried about anyway?_

__

"Alright well-" Some sort of chimes went off in the background, probably a clock or something. _"Bugger... gotta run to class! We'll be back in a few hours... Okay?"_

"Alright. See you then!"

__

"Bye!" The phone on her end clicked off. I tried my best to hide my smug smirk as I pushed the button and clicked off the phone in my hands like I'd done it a million times before.

Lockhart just rolled his eyes at me.

I gave him my best, 'How could an innocent guy like me blow up a town?' look. "What?"

He grinned, "Nothing."

Now I guess it was my turn to roll my eyes, when another thought hit, and I flashed him what I hoped would pass for a wicked grin. "You know how to play cards?"

"Just uno!"

~~~*~~~_2 hours and several games of uno later..._~~~*~~~

I walked up to the front door, Stephie by my side. "You think they're all right in there?"

She smirked at me. "I certainly hope so... else there'll be Bat Bogey Hexage... " she trailed off and shook her head. "least I wish I could..."

I grinned. "Be nice, wouldn't it?" _Yeah Liz, and it'd be nice if you really knew how to use a sakabatou. _" Ah well... shall we?" I asked, jerking my head in the direction of the door.

She nodded, unlocking the door then motioning for me to go in first.

"UNO!!!!!"

"What the...." I quickly found myself leaning against the doorframe for support I was laughing so hard. There in front of me, was an extremely pleased Lockhart, doing what I assumed was his own version of a happy dance, with one disgruntled gunman sitting on the floor in front of him, tossing a very full hand of cards to the ground.

"Aiya?? What in the faerying forest??" Stephie asked, a smile just barely evident on her face.

As soon as my laughter subsided enough for me to use my voice again, I glanced over at Vash. "Vash.... just how many times have you lost?"

He pouted adorably, "Don't know... lost track somewhere around 30 I think..."

I just barly caught Stephie's grin out of the corner of my eye as Lockhart turned to us, and asked cheerily, "So did we have a good day?"

"Meh... I suppose. Glad to be home." Stephie replied with a smile.

"Sure. Wonderful day." I shook my head, still slightly laughing. "Come on, donut boy... We'd better be going so this one can rest a bit. More school tomorrow you know."

He grinned and stood up, "Can we get donuts on the way back?"

"Sure... why not?" I grinned, "Tomorrow then, Stephie?"

"Yes, tomorrow. Have a safe trip back! Sleep well too!" 

"You too! bye!" I called, leading the gunman out the door.

"See you tomorrow!" he called as he followed me. 

"Have a lovely evening!" was the last thing I heard Lockhart say before the door shut behind us.

I turned to Vash, still highly amused. "So Vash… how many times did you let him win before he actually started to beat you fair and square?"

He grinned, on the verge of a wink. "About thirty I think."

I laughed again, looking forward to donuts and a quiet evening at home… though maybe I con Vash into playing a few more games of Uno…

~~~*~~~

A/N: Killing me for taking so bloody long with this chapter is highly acceptable. ::hands out various instruments of torture:: 

FluffysBijin05: Oh yesh, Liz loves her donut boy! Hope you enjoyed this one! ::rurouni grin::

kagome-angel2000: Er… sorry this one took so long… but as I said before killing me is permitted! ::cheesy grin:: Hope you liked it!

greenydgrl74: Yay! I'm glad you like it!

PT-chan: Aww… I'm sure Wilson misses you. Though he may be having a party with the printer and the fax machine… Whoops! He made me promise not to tell you! Drat. ::wink::

You Can Fly (Or should I call you Delirium?): I am sure he eats meat as he eats salmon sandwhiches in the anime. Along with eggs and pancakes and spaghetti and meatballs. And to be perfectly honest, I have no idea where you'd find salmon on Gunsmoke… you'd have to ask the creator of the manga/anime. ::laughs:: And don't worry, you're not the first to point out something like that. I don't mind and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 

Pudding333: Yay! I feel so loved when I'm forgiven! And I did keep writing! See?? Longer!!

Aaringo: I know! ::whines:: I didn't mean for that one to be so short, b-but… well… it just was. ::pouts:: And dude… your review makes me hungry. Mmmm… whipped cream…

Blu: I have three words for you…. "PANTSU!" and "Porno Sites!" Er… wait… that was four words if you count "and". Ah well… CHI! ::laughs::

Doomy-chan: NOOOO! Not the comfy chair! Poke her with the soft cushions! And have I mentioned there's a penguin on the telly and I've no idea how it got there? Hmmm… maybe it came from next door… And yes, I like the signature. ::grins:: I can't rmeemebr though, did I answer your question in an email before? My memory sucks. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter! ::grin::

Lady Venom2: ::blushes:: Yare yare, your stories are better anyway. But I have to agree that anything with Vash is worth the wait. ::grin::

Thesral Dea: You sound like Dumbldore when he's talking to Mira. ::wink:: Thanks much to you and hope you liked!


	13. Songs and Questions

A/N: I am a bad monkey. I haven't updated in centuries, though mainly it isn't my fault. But instead of boring you with real life details, why don't I just let you get on with the story ya? ::grin::

~~~*~~~

****

The Student, The Typhoon, and The Closet

**Chapter 12**

The walk home from the bus stop that day was peacefully pleasant. It amazed me how different this walk was from the few times I had walked that route with Vash before. Usually, he was full of questions and amazement, always asking why so many houses were so close together, how we had gotten so many trees and flowers to grow, why we had paved sand, dirt, and grass with "those little black rocks". But today he was quiet, as though he was thinking hard about something very important. For once I could hear birds singing their sweet yet neverending melody. It was heavenly.

For about five seconds anyway.

I was not used to silence, six years of band (and counting) had taught my ears to revel in every loud and obnoxious cymbal crash, bass beat, and trumpet flare. I found it difficult to even think straight unless there was noise of some sort going on around me. I was in desperate need of something, _anything_ to distract me from the quiet of the afternoon. So, music freak that I am, I began to hum.

Of course, being in a choir, I wasn't the kind to be content with simply humming for long, and after a minute or so I found myself singing softly.

"What's that you're singing?" came Vash's curious voice.

I suddenly felt very sheepish, "Er… just a song I learned in class one day…"

"Sounds kinda nice."

I smiled slightly, "Well, I think it's pretty. Besides, the chorus sort of fits my mood at present." He glanced down at me with one of his adorably innocent smiles, and in an instant I knew what he was going to ask.

"You were singing too soft for me to hear the words."

__

Damn… I sighed slightly and raised one eyebrow in a playful expression. "I suppose you want me to sing it for you then?"

Suddenly the brave Vash the Stampede was very interested in looking at the trees ahead of us on the path.

Sighing once more, I took a deep breath…

"_My life flows on, in endless song,_

above earth's lamentation.

I hear the real, though far off hymn,

that hails a new creation.

Above the tumult and the strife,

I hear it's music ringing.

It sounds an echo in my soul.

How can I keep from singing?"

We had stopped walking once I began to sing, mainly because I closed my eyes. Oh sure, I could stand before thousands of people in a packed theater and sing a solo with nothing but a track to back me up, and I had done exactly that more than once. But sing for an audience of one? A capella?? In my mind, that was far more frightening than a large crowd of strangers, _especially when the opinion of the one person who's listening actually matters to me.._

"That's really pretty." he said softly.

I fought of a blush, never having been one who took compliments well. "Thanks."

"Liz?"

"Yea?"

"You can open your eyes now…"

I blinked, _right. Forgot I closed them… _Glancing up at him I realized he was trying very hard not to laugh at me. Though my insecurities made me doubt the only thing he found amusing was that my eyes had been closed. "Quiet you." I told him, pouting slightly.

"I didn't say anything!" he whined.

"Yeah, but I can hear you thinking." I retorted, never missing a beat. "Come on." I said, beginning to lead us once more towards my house.

"No you can't!"

"Of course I can, for I am the mighty Liz, she who knows all." I declared, adding quickly, "Or something like that anyway…"

He grinned at me and laughed a little, "Alright, then prove it. What am I thinking now?"

I made a great show of standing up on my tiptoes, trying to get to eye to eye with the gunman. Of course, it didn't help my pride any when he bent his knees slightly and met me half way.

"You're thinking that I'm short." I deduced logically.

"Nope!" he declared happily. "See? I told you you couldn't read my mind!"

I rolled my eyes as we continued on our way, the blue door of my house now in sight. "Fine, then what were you thinking?"

"I was wondering why you don't sing more often." he admitted.

I gave him a curious look, "I sing all the time."

He shook his head, "Not in front of me."

I blushed slightly, "I… I'm not used to singing in front of people… Well, not when I care about what they think of me anyway. I guess I'm just a little self concious of it."

This time he was the one with the questioning look, "Then why'd you start singing just now?"

I grinned slightly, "Because I'm in a good mood, and it was too quiet for me. You weren't talking and I needed something to fill the silence."

He chuckled, "You know, you're the second person I've met who sings when they're happy."

I grinned a little brighter, "Yeah, but Rem sang better than I do."

Vash shot me an amused glance, "It really isn't fair you know, you knowing everything about me and all."

"Well, I already told you a lot about me. When you think of more questions, I'll give you more answers." replied, unlocking the front door and stepping inside, knowing he would follow.

Behind me I heard him laugh a little, "Then I guess I'll have to think about what I want the answer to."

"How about the answer to life, the universe, and everything?" I said, turning to face him.

"You know that? Really??"

"Sure. It's practically common knowledge here."

"What is it??"

"Forty-two."

The utterly confused look on his face was all it took to make my day even better.

~~~*~~~

A/N: Here's hoping it won't take me so long for the next one, eh? ::grin:: Though I don't think it will. Acknowledgements will come with the next one.


End file.
